BY  •  HELEN 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


BV  3269  .F84  D93  1903 

Dyer,  Helen  S. 

A  life  for  God  in  India 


A  Life  for  God  in  India 


%^      Ai^     fiCcJ^ 


A  Life  for  God  in 
India 

Memorials  of  Mrs  Jennie  Fuller  ^^  .  «^ «. 

of  Akola  and  Bombay     f^  ^^r 

APR  i.^'  1924 


By 


^ 


Helen  S.  Dyer 

Author  of 
Pandita  Ramabai ;  the  Story  of  her  Life ;  &c. 


New  York     Chicago     Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London     Edinburgh 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


PAGB 

Introductory   9 

Mrs  Jennie  Fuller :  a  consecrated  life.  Her  husband's  testi- 
mony. 

CHAPTER  I  / 

Links  in  a  Chain  of  Blessing       .....        13 

Unevangelised  India  three  decades  ago.  The  vastness  of  its 
need.  How  God  used  William  Taylor.  The  planting  of  new- 
missions.  The  province  of  Berar.  Ellichpur.  A  day  of  prayer. 
A  speedy  answer.     Albert  Norton's  faith  work. 

CHAPTER  II 
Called  and  Qualified  for  a  Missionary  Career       21 

Jennie  Frow.  A  sister's  reminiscences  of  early  days.  Conflict 
of  soul,  and  call  to  India.  College  life  at  Oberlin.  Leadings  in 
faith.     Sent  forth.     Mr  Finney's  influence. 

CHAPTER  III 
Steps  in  Faith  and  Answers  to  Prayer     .        .        33 

Arrival  in  India.  Welcome  to  Berar.  Her  missionary  appren- 
ticeship. Famine  orphans.  Hearts  regenerated  in  answer  to 
prayer.  How  the  children  learned  to  pray.  The  beggars'  service. 
A  blind  convert.     Chikalda  experiences. 

CHAPTER  IV 
Miss  Frow  Becomes  Mrs  Fuller  ....        41 

Return  to  America  and  marriage.  Second  journey  Eastward, 
Stay  in  London.  Dr  Boardman's  teaching.  Providential 
openings  and  supplies.  Voyage  to  India.  Notes  of  travel.  A 
delightful  reception.  Filled  with  praise  and  thanksgiving. 
Shanti's  testimony. 

5 


6  Table   of  Contents 

CHAPTER  V 

PAGB 

Busy  Years  in  Akola 57 

Branching  out.  New  work  at  Akola.  Preservation  from 
danger.  The  "dog  question"  settled  in  answer  to  prayer.  Test- 
ings and  trials.  Family  cares.  The  Everlasting  Arms,  a  blessed 
reality.  Orphanage  work.  Industrial  training.  Kunwadi.  The 
Opium  Traffic's  "dirty  shillings"  refused.  Foundation  of 
Eurasian  orphan  work.  Miss  Helen  Dawlly.  New  helpers  and 
added  cares.  Miss  Carrie  Bates.  Prayer  and  promises  concern- 
ing enlargement. 

CHAPTER  VI 
A  Widening  Sphere 73 

Return  to  America  in  1890.  A  trying  voyage.  A  hard  lesson 
well-learned.  A  home  in  America.  The  dress  question.  The 
brown  bonnet.  The  Christian  Alliance.  Missionary  volunteers. 
Reinforcements  for  Berar.  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  chosen  as  leaders. 
Two  bands  led  forth.  The  baby's  cap  lining.  Louisa  Ranfs 
death.  Welcome  meetings  in  Bombay.  A  new  inflow  of  spiritual 
life. 

CHAPTER  VII 
Extension  and  Language  Difficulties       .        ,       87 

The  life  of  faith.  A  change  of  method  only.  Workers  and 
stations  multiplied.  Parallel  extension  by  another  mission. 
Gujarat  and  Khandeish  occupied.  Language  difficulties.  Miss 
Olmstead's  estimate  of  Marathi.  Mrs  Fuller's  experience  of 
difficulties  cleared  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  answer  to  prayer. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Burden  of  the  Lord.      More  Prayer  for 

Missions      ........        95 

Mrs  Fuller's  prayer  life.  Growing  conviction  of  the  possibilities 
of  prayer.  Her  message  to  the  home  churches  in  1694.  Con- 
ventions and  camp  meetings.  Prayer  for  Indian  Christians. 
Removal  to  Bombay.  Open  air  work  prior  to  the  plague. 
Persecution  and  retribution.     Little  Jean.     The  Lord's  healing. 


Table    of   Contents 

CHAPTER  IX 


PAGH 

Travel  and  Bereavement      .....      105 

In  journeyings  oft.  The  spring  of  victory.  The  Konkan. 
Among  Syrian  Christians  in  Travancore.  A  strange  foreboding. 
Jean's  question.  Preparations  for  furlough.  Jean's  sickness. 
The  folded  lamb.     Anchored  on  the  Word  of  God. 


CHAPTER  X 
The  Time  of  India's  Trouble        .        .        .        .115 

Mrs  Fuller  in  America.  Enlisting  sympathy  for  the  famine 
stricken.  Famine  orphans.  The  story  of  Chandur  :  A  hard  field  ; 
an  opening  made  ;  conversion  of  an  opium  slave  ;  famine  relief; 
baptism  of  eight  converts.  Thanksgiving  Day  in  America ;  how 
the  turkey  was  provided. 

CHAPTER  XI 

Literary  Work  in  America  and  India       .        .      129 

A  facile  pen.  "  God's  Care."  Return  to  India.  Th^  Bombay 
Guardian.  "The  Wrongs  of  Indian  Womanhood."  Parents 
and  children.  The  money  element  in  mission  work.  Pandita 
Ramabai.  Her  own  experience.  A  desk  from  the  Lord.  Public 
activity  in  Bombay.     A  vision  awaiting  fulfilment. 

CHAPTER  XII 

Through  Dark  Days  to  Everlasting  Life         .      139 

Recurrence  of  famine.  Gujarat  and  Berar  involved.  Mrs 
Fuller's  pen  active  on  behalf  of  the  sufferers.  Water  famine  at 
Khamgaon.  A  copious  supply  in  answer  to  prayer.  Plans  for 
help.  Incidents  in  Gujarat.  Trouble  in  Bombay.  Miss  Park's 
removal  by  small-pox.  Al  ast  and  weighty  message.  Cholera  at 
Khamgaon.  Mrs  Fuller  stricken.  A  weary  thirteen  weeks  of 
hopes  and  fears.  Taken  Home.  Tributes  to  her  memory  from 
the  Bombay  Y.M.C.A.,  a  Brahmin  pandit,  and  a  non-Christian 
editor. 


Table   of  Contents 


APPENDIX 


PAGE 

Testimonies  from  Far  and  Near         .       •       .      i53 

Letters  from  missionaries  in  India.  From  other  friends  in 
India  and  in  Western  lands,  including  Bishop  Thoburn  and 
Editor  of  New  York  Christian  Herald. 

II 

From  Missionaries  of  the  Christian  Alliance        163 

Mrs  Jessie  Simmons.  Mrs  Carrie  Bates  Rogers.  Mrs  Martha 
Ramsey.    Mrs  Blanche  Hamilton. 

Ill 

In  Memoriam 173 

Tributes  from  Hattie  L.  Bruce  and  Alice  D.  Home. 
IV 

Covenant  Promises  to  Parents     .        •       •       •      180 

A  Bible  Reading  by  Mrs  Fuller. 


INTRODUCTORY 

This  little  book  does  not  claim  to  be  a 
biography.  It  is  but  a  simple  attempt  to 
gather  up  the  threads  of  a  life  lived  for  God, 
and  to  show  how  He  glorified  Himself  thereby. 
It  claims  to  show  how  a  life  offered,  con- 
secrated, and  accepted  for  the  King's  service, 
fitted  into  His  plans  for  mission  work  in  India, 
and  became  a  factor  in  the  extension  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  over  an  entire  province.  It 
claims  to  show  also  how  God  used  this  life  to 
edify  and  extend  His  Church  on  earth,  and  to 
lift  individual  Christian  souls  into  higher  aims 
of  service  ;  to  inspire  the  home  churches  with 
missionary  zeal,  and  rouse  them  to  a  sense  of 
their  responsibility  in  regard  to  prayer  for 
missions. 

Our  subject,  Mrs  Jennie  Fuller,  was  a  living, 
loving  personality,  who  gave  out  to  others  as 
freely  as  God  gave  to  her.  In  discussing  a 
missionary  biography  with  a  literary  friend  a 
few  weeks  before  the  close  of  her  life  on  earth, 
Mrs  Fuller  remarked,  "  No  one  can  write  a  bio- 
graphy of  me  when  I  am  gone.  I  have  kept  no 
diary,  and  my  letters  for  several  years  have 
been  but  notes,  except  to  my  children."     But 


lo  Introductory 

though  Mrs  Fuller  kept  no  diary  and  wrote 
few  letters,  she  had  for  some  years  realised 
that  God  had  given  her  many  experiences  of 
His  love  and  favour,  that  she  might  give  them 
out  to  others.  She  loved  to  magnify  His 
name  with  her  pen,  and  thus,  perhaps  un- 
consciously to  herself,  she  wrote  much  of  her 
own  life  story.  She  loved  hard  lessons  in 
order  that  she  might  thereby  be  qualified  to 
teach  others,  and  she  rejoiced  to  pass  on  sweet 
thoughts  that  God  gave  her.  From  various 
sources  these  have  been  collected,  and  in  this 
book,  it  may  be  said,  "  She  being  dead,  yet 
speaketh." 

"  HER  HUSBAND  ALSO,  AND  HE  PRAISETH 
HER." 

In  supplying  a  few  notes  and  connecting 
links  for  this  story,  Mr  Fuller  puts  a  good 
testimony  on  record  concerning  her.  He 
writes  :  "  I  realise  that  Mrs  Fuller's  life  was 
a  very  precious  legacy  for  her  children  and 
for  all  of  us  who  knew  her.  There  was  so 
much  of  God  in  it.  He  did  much  for  and 
in  her,  and  that  made  it  possible  for  Him  to 
do  much  through  her.  There  were  the  years 
of  quiet  toil  before  we  joined  the  Alliance 
when  she  was  so  hungry  to  know  the  fulness 
of  the  Spirit,  and  even  then  there  was 
a  measure  of  the  Spirit  which  made  her  a 
blessing  to  many.  But  God  saw  the  deep 
desire    to    know    Him,  and    in    a   remarkable 


Introductory  1 1 

degree  He  granted  that  desire.  She  was  so 
genuine,  and  longed  to  be  rather  than  appear  to 
be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  She  had  unusual 
natural  gifts  which  she  so  fully  gave  to  God 
that  He  could  use  them  for  His  glory. 

"  The  depth  and  strength  of  her  convictions 
and  her  sincere  purpose  to  be  true  to  all  the 
light  which  God  had  given  her  were  very 
noticeable  points  in  her  character.  She  was 
one  of  the  truest  souls  I  have  ever  known. 
She  was  a  woman  of  prayer,  and  when  she 
felt  clear  in  her  guidance  her  opinions  were  of 
great  value.  When  perplexed  over  matters, 
she  would  wait  on  God  for  weeks  for  light, 
and  when  she  found  it  she  had  a  gift  of 
imparting  it  to  others.  She  had  by  nature 
unusual  gifts  as  a  teacher,  and  these  gifts  were 
consecrated  to  God  and  illuminated  and  in- 
tensified by  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
God  often  helped  her  to  make  truth  very 
plain  to  the  simple  native  Christians  by  illus- 
trations and  incidents. 

"  She  loved  her  friends  very  deeply,  and 
naturally  longed  to  please  them,  but  her 
loyalty  to  Christ  made  her  very  faithful  in 
dealing  with  them,  and  she  was  willing  to  be 
misunderstood  or  even  for  a  time  to  forfeit  a 
friend's  approval  rather  than  be  disloyal  to 
Christ  and  the  truth  which  He  had  made  plain 
to  her.  I  lived  with  her  for  nineteen  years, 
and  as  I  look  back  over  those  years  I  realise 


12  Introductory 

that  God  gave  me  for  a  wife  one  of  the  best 
women  I  have  ever  known." 

Testimonies  of  others  of  her  friends  have 
been  gathered  into  the  Appendix,  which  will 
be  found  not  the  least  interesting  and  in- 
spiring portion  of  this  volume.  That  the 
Lord  will  use  the  book  for  spiritual  refresh- 
ment and  blessing  is  the  chief  desire  of  its 
compiler. 

Helen  S.  Dyer. 

Aldington,  Kent. 


CHAPTER    I 

LINKS    IN    A   CHAIN    OF    BLESSING 

"Ask  of  Me  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen 
for  thine  inheritance" 

Pens  more  graphic  than  that  of  the  present 
writer  have  endeavoured  to  depict  in  ways  that 
should  arrest  attention,  and  compel  thought, 
the  vastness  of  the  need  of  unevangelised 
countries  ;  the  fewness  of  the  workers,  and  the 
immensity  of  the  field. 

The  last  three  decades  of  the  nineteenth 
century  have  seen  a  rapid  development  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise  in  India.  Thirty  years  ago 
a  large  part  of  Central  India  was  entirely  with- 
out evangelistic  effort.  Mission  stations  were 
few  and  far  apart.  There  was  mission  work 
in  Bombay,  Nagpur,  Jabalpur  and  Allahabad, 
a  leap  of  some  hundreds  of  miles  from  station 
to  station,  and  between — darkness.  The  beau- 
tiful valley  of  the  Nerbudda,  and  the  equally 
fertile  province  of  Berar,  with  the  Satpura  hills 
-between,  had  no  missionary.  Each  of  these 
contains  numerous  cities  with  swarming  popu- 
lations, and  myriads  of  villages.      It  is  marvel- 


14  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

lous  to  see  how  God  has  worked  in  covering 
these  spiritually  destitute  tracts  of  country  with 
spirit-filled  workers. 

In  the  early  seventies  God  sent  William 
Taylor  (of  Californian  fame)  to  India.  In  the 
space  of  from  two  to  three  years  he  was  used 
to  convert  scores  of  the  English-speaking  popu- 
lation in  the  large  cities.  These  converts 
formed  themselves  into  Methodist  churches  in 
Bombay,  Calcutta,  Madras,  Lucknow,  and  else- 
where, and  from  the  ranks  of  these  converted 
Europeans,  Eurasians  and  Indians,  many  grand 
gospel  workers  have  been  furnished.  They 
and  their  children  form  the  backbone  of  many 
Christian  communities  in  India  to-day. 

The  vastness  of  the  field,  and  the  scarcity  of 
labourers,  impressed  deeply  the  heart  of  William 
Taylor.  He  sent  an  urgent  call  to  America 
for  men  to  come  out  to  India  as  self-supporting 
missionaries.  The  call  was  heard.  A  small 
band  of  rugged,  but  consecrated,  Christians 
responded.  Some  arrived  in  time  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  closing  scenes  of  William 
Taylor's  campaign  ;  others  came  to  help  carry 
on  the  work  after  he  had  left  the  country. 
Some  settled  as  pastors  of  the  churches  of 
English-speaking  people  alluded  to,  and  en- 
deavoured, with  the  aid  of  their  flock,  to  open 
out  Native  Mission  work.  Others  went  out 
into  the  jungle  straight  to  the  heathen.  Some 
of  these  stalwarts  are  still  in  the  field,  some 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  15 

have  retired,  others  have  passed  over  the  line 
from  work  to  reward.  It  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate too  highly  the  courage  and  self-denying 
toil  of  these  pioneer  labourers.  The  planting 
of  the  Gospel  in  Western  India  owes  much  to 
their  zeal. 

From  that  date  there  has  been  a  continual 
series  of  developments.  In  less  than  ten  years 
a  number  of  new  missions  had  been  planted, 
many  of  them  small  in  their  inception,  at  first 
feeble  and  seemingly  insignificant,  but  they 
were  planted  in  faith,  took  root,  and  spread, 
and  covered  large  tracts  of  the  country  hitherto 
unclaimed  for  Christ.  One  lone  Englishwoman 
with  a  concern  to  be  useful  to  the  women  of 
India  was  the  frail  plant  which  has  grown  into 
the  Friends'  Foreign  Mission  in  the  Nerbudda 
Valley,  with  its  occupation  of  the  important 
towns  of  Hoshangabad,  Sohagpur,  Seoni  Malwa 
and  Itarsi,  with  its  large  orphanages  and  indus- 
trial enterprises,  and  encouraging  village  settle- 
ments. The  Swedish  Mission  has  located  in 
other  towns  on  the  borders.  But  it  is  of 
Berar,  and  the  marvellous  planting  of  the 
Gospel  on  that  virgin  soil,  with  which  our 
narrative  has  to  do. 

In  the  cool  season  a  trip  through  Berar  is 
most  enjoyable.  It  is  a  small  compact  pro- 
vince joined  to  Hyderabad  State  on  the  west 
and  south,  and  to  the  Central  Provinces  on  the 
north  and  east.      It  formerly  belonged  to  the 


1 6  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Nizam  of  Hyderabad,  but  was  assigned  to 
the  British  Government  by  negotiation.  The 
country  is  particularly  well  cultivated,  and  it  is 
a  pretty  sight  to  pass  by  the  cotton  fields  ripe 
for  picking  ;  the  women,  in  their  picturesque 
red  or  blue  sarees^  working  away,  and  piling 
the  cotton  into  little  snow-like  heaps  as  they 
gather  it  from  the  bushes.  At  the  same  time 
the  jowari  harvest  is  going  on.  Jowari  is  a 
tall'growing  corn,  with  a  large  bunchy  head. 
It  is  cheiper  than  wheat,  and  more  commonly 
used  in  the  country  where  it  grows.  The  fields 
of  linseed,  with  their  bright  blue  blossoms  ;  the 
yellow  mustard,  also  grown  for  its  oil ;  and  the 
frequent  herds  of  cattle,  all  diversify  the  scene, 
and  indicate  comfort  and  prosperity.  Such  is 
Berar  in  non-famine  days. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  stations  in  Berar 
is  Ellichpur.  It  is  well  wooded  with  shade 
trees  and  clumps  of  bamboos,  and  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  a  fine  range  of  hills,  the  Sat- 
p'lras.  On  one  of  these  is  situated  Chikalda, 
a  beautiful  hot  weather  retreat,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Ellichpur.  A  prominent  object  on 
another  hill  brow  is  the  fortress  of  Gawilgarh. 
One  hundred  years  ago  (in  1802)  this  was 
stormed  by  the  British  army.  The  Mussul- 
mans who  were  defending  it  believed  it  to  be 
impregnable,  but  finding  the  foe  was  breaking 
through  their  walls,  they  turned,  killed  their 
women  and  children,  and  themselves  escaped 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  17 

by  an  underground  passage  down  a  narrow 
defile.  For  many  years  Ellichpur  was  a  depot 
for  British  soldiers,  but  has  for  some  years 
now  been  garrisoned  only  by  a  small  force  of 
Native  infantry.  It  has  an  English  church  and 
cemetery,  but  very  few  resident  English-speaking 
families. 

It  was  in  Ellichpur,  nearly  thirty  years  ago, 
that  the  seed  of  the  movement  was  first  planted 
that  has  now  covered  Berar  with  a  network  of 
mission  stations.  How  much  of  this  steady 
extension  has  been  the  result  of  earnest  believ- 
ing prayer  may  never  be  known,  but  we  believe 
that  hundreds  of  workers  have  been  prayed 
into  the  mission  field  in  direct  answer  to  the 
command  of  the  Saviour  (Matt.  ix.  38).  Here 
and  there  we  meet  with  a  reminiscence,  and 
catch  a  glimpse  of  hearts  burdened  with 
prayers,  which  have  afterwards  been  most 
preciously  answered.     It  was  so  in  this  case. 

Colonel  G.  W.  Oldham,  a  Christian  officer 
in  the  Government  Engineering  Department, 
then  resident  in  Bombay,  but  now  spending  an 
honoured  old  age  in  London,  writes : — 

"In  1874  I  was  stationed  in  India,  and  at 
Christmas  I  went  up  to  Ellichpur,  in  the  north 
of  the  province  of  Berar,  to  spend  Christmas 
with  my  wife.  On  New  Year's  Day  we  were 
cast  down  in  spirit,  because  there  was  no 
messenger  of  the  Lord  caring  for  the  people 
there.     We  spent  nearly  the  whole  of  the  day 


1 8  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

in  prayer,  asking  God  to  send  someone  to  work 
in  EUichpur,  which  is  thirty-two  miles  from  the 
nearest  railway  station,  and  therefore  quite  out 
of  the  world. 

"  Ten  days  afterwards  I  was  returning  to 
Bombay,  and  when  I  got  to  the  railway  station 
at  Amraoti,  the  first  man  I  saw  was  Albert 
Norton,  an  American,  who  had  come  to  India 
in  connection  with  William  Taylor's  mission. 
I  asked  him  what  he  did  there,  and  he  replied  : 
*  I  am  thinking  of  starting  work  at  EUichpur.' 

" '  Praise  God,'  I  said, '  I  did  not  think  my 
prayer  was  to  be  answered  so  soon.' " 

Mr  Norton  began  his  mission  work  in  a 
very  humble  way,  trusting  in  God  to  lead  him 
forward.  The  money  that  enabled  him  to 
start  for  EUichpur  was  a  remittance  from  Bul- 
garia of  eighty-seven  rupees  from  a  friend  who 
had  heard  of  his  call  to  India,  and  was  partly 
subscribed  by  quite  poor  people.  He  resolved 
to  live  very  humbly,  and  at  first  boarded  in  a 
native  hut.  As  news  of  his  work  and  the 
wonderfully  open  doors  in  a  needy  field  reached 
his  circle  in  America,  others  were  drawn  to 
join  him,  and  one  to  become  his  wife,  who  has 
ever  since  been  his  faithful  co-worker  in  all  his 
labours  for  the  Lord.  In  the  course  of  time 
they  had  a  family  of  six  sons,  and  as  Col. 
Oldham  testifies,  "they  led  a  wonderful  life  in 
India.  And  just  as  wonderfully  were  they 
fed  as  Elijah  by  the  ravens.     Sometimes   an 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  19 

official  sent  them  food,  sometimes  a  native 
gentleman  sent  a  basket  of  vegetables.  Some- 
times a  note  came  from  England  or  America 
with  money,  but  they  never  knew  where  the 
money  was  to  come  from.  And  as  the  result 
of  this  one  man's  faith,  over  one  hundred 
workers  for  the  Lord  have  subsequently  gone 
out  to  India." 


CHAPTER  II 

CALLED  AND  QUALIFIED  FOR  A  MISSIONARY 
CAREER 

"  That  our  daughters  may  be  as  corner  stones^ 
polished  after  the  similitude  of  a  palace!^ 

Among  the  earliest  to  respond  to  Mr  Norton's 
call  for  fellow  -  labourers  was  Miss  Jennie 
Frow,  afterwards  Mrs  M.  B.  Fuller,  whose  life 
forms  the  subject  of  this  volume.  She  was 
born  in  Winchester,  Adam's  County,  Ohio, 
December  1 6th,  1 8 5  i,  the  third  daughter  of  Mr 
and  Mrs  John  Frow  of  that  city.  A  brief 
story  of  her  early  days  has  been  tenderly  out- 
lined by  her  surviving  sister,  Mrs  Margaret 
Donaldson,  of  Tavarez,  Florida,  who  writes  : — 
"  Our  Jennie,  the  baby  of  the  household,  for 
nine  years  had  no  clouds  to  darken  a  happy 
care-free  childhood.  But  at  that  age,  when 
most  needed,  the  life  of  a  tender  Christian 
mother  went  out,  and  the  home  and  hearts  of 
father  and  children  were  left  desolate.  Life 
went  on  with  the  accumulating  interests  of  the 
years,  when  Jennie's  education,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,   fitted   her   for   the    office  of  teacher. 


22  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

She  performed  her  duties  with  scrupulous  con- 
scientiousness, and  made  for  herself  a  reputa- 
tion as  an  instructor  and  disciplinarian  which 
secured  for  her  situations  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility. During  this  period  Jennie  had  much 
to  bear,  but  the  trials  of  life  finally  brought 
her  to  God. 

"  At  the  age  of  nineteen  she  studied  farther 
at  the  Normal  School  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  in 
preparation  for  what  she  then  thought  would 
be  her  life  work.  In  these  years,  while  deal- 
ing with  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  young 
under  her  care,  the  Lord  by  His  Spirit  was 
dealing  with  her  soul,  and  she  was  brought 
into  a  deeper  Christian  experience  where  she 
could  hear  His  voice  calling  her  to  Gospel 
service  in  the  '  regions  beyond.'  The  conflict 
that  this  implied  in  her  mind  was  the  secret 
with  her  sister  Margaret,  who  rejoiced  with 
her  when  victory  came  and  she  was  enabled  to 
say  '  Yes,'  to  the  Lord.  From  this  time  the 
whole  plan  of  Jennie's  life  was  changed,  and 
the  first  step  of  preparation  was  her  going  to 
Oberlin,  Ohio,  to  enter  college  for  a  literary 
course.      This  was  in  1873. 

"  From  infancy  her  eyes  spoke  the  language 
of  her  heart,  and  the  buoyancy  of  her  spirits  in 
childhood  and  early  womanhood,  as  well  as 
after  great  burdens  came  into  her  life,  brought 
joy  to  all  about  her.  Her  keen  sense  of 
humour  and  kindly  spirit  embellished  by  God's 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  23 

grace  made  her  a  congenial  companion.  Her 
love  of  the  beautiful  and  of  good  cheer  were 
inherent  qualities  which  grace  only  intensified  ; 
even  when  her  soul  went  through  deep  waters 
the  sunshine  of  her  spirit  would  beautify  the 
clouds. 

"  As  a  daughter  she  was  loyal,  as  a  sister 
unselfish  and  loving.  Words  fail  me  to  tell 
what  she  was  to  me.  While  I'm  glad  to-day 
in  her  gladness,  yet  there  are  times  when  the 
world  seems  very  empty  without  her.  Her 
ministry  of  love  will  not  fail  me  in  life,  and 
will  go  on  to  life  eternal.  The  whole  secret 
of  her  fruitful  life  came  from  her  love  of  the 
truth,  and  the  joy  of  the  indwelling  CHRIST. 
Her  true,  transparent  soul  would  have  nothing 
but  the  truth,  and  while  one's  pen  could  bring 
out  much  that  would  seem  like  eulogy,  we 
know  she  would  say  '  Not  unto  us,  not  unto 
us,  O  Lord,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory.' 

"  After  entering  college  the  enemy  made  a 
great  fight  to  defeat  the  purpose  to  which  she 
was  so  clearly  called.  But  God  was  faithful, 
the  battle  was  His,  not  hers,  and  she  was 
compassed  about  with  songs  of  deliverance, 
and  never  after  questioned  God's  leading. 
From  this  time  forward  she  followed  every 
step,  however  difficult  or  seemingly  impossible, 
in  simple  childlike  faith.  The  fruit  of  her 
consecration  and  trust  touched  many  lives  for 
blessing." 


24  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

It  was  in  the  closing  years  of  the  life 
of  that  great  and  good  man,  who  made 
Oberlin  famous  as  an  evangelical  centre, 
Charles  G.  Finney,  that  Jennie  Frow  joined 
the  college  as  a  student.  In  a  letter  to  her 
sister  Margaret,  written  at  that  time,  she 
mentions  her  first  glimpse  of  Mr  Finney,  and 
of  the  promised  pleasure  of  an  interview. 
The  same  letter  gives  bright  and  chatty 
details  of  her  life  in  college,  but  breaks  off  in 
the  middle  with  the  remark  :  "  I  do  not  think 
of  anything  particular  for  the  future  now,  only 
His  glory.  If  it  is  His  will  for  me  to  take 
a  college  course  here  He  will  open  the  way. 
If  not  I  am 

*  Content  to  fill  a  little  space 
IfThou  be  glorified.'" 

Although  the  future  was  then  hid  from  her 
eyes,  the  spirit  of  entire  consecration  to  God's 
service,  which  led  her  out  into  the  mission 
field,  was  already  at  work  in  her  heart.  The 
Lord  was  teaching  her  many  things,  and  she 
was  anxious  to  lead  her  much  loved  sister  out 
into  the  fuller  experiences  of  consecration  and 
sanctification  which  she  was  pressing  into  her- 
self An  indication  this  of  one  of  the  most 
necessary  qualifications  for  service.  Miss 
Jennie  obeyed  the  command  :  "  Go  home  to 
thy  friends  and  tell  them  how  great  things 
the  Lord  hath  done  for  thee"  (Mark  v.  19). 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  25 

The  enemy  of  souls  tempted  her  for  this,  and 
warned  her  against  writing  home  so  much  of 
her  experience  lest  she  should  not  "  hold  out." 
But  she  based  her  experience  on  the  Word 
of  God — another  life-long  characteristic  and 
sound  qualification  for  the  mission  field. 
"  These  temptations,"  she  says,  "  caused  me 
to  tremble  at  first,  but  now  I  know  much 
that  Jesus  is  able  to  do  : — 

Able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted.— Heb.  ii.  18. 

Able  to  make  me  stand. — Rom.  xiv.  4. 

Able  to  do  more  than  I  can  ask  or  think. — Eph.  iii.  20. 

Able  to  keep  all  I  have  committed  to  Him. — 2  Tim.  i.  12. 

Able  to  build  me  up. — Acts  xx.  32. 

Able  to  keep  me  from  falling. — Jude  i.  24. 

Able  to  subdue  all  things  unto  Himself. — Phil.  iii.  21. 

All  this !  and  then  Jesus  asks,  *  Believe  ye 
that  I  am  able  to  do  this  ? '  How  can  the 
answer  be  other  than,  '  Yea,  Lord  ! '  " 

She  then  goes  on  to  explain  to  her  sister 
the  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  way  of  holiness 
as  follows  : — 

"  I  do  realise  that  Jesus  saves  me  just 
now.  ...  To  enter  this  way  the  first  step 
is  an  entire  consecration  to  the  Lord.  Laying 
ourselves  on  the  altar,  our  reputation  (willing 
to  be  called  fools  for  Christ's  sake),  our  time, 
talent,  influence,  tongue,  loved  ones,  will, 
everything  must  be  laid  on  the  altar.  That 
is  all  the  part  we  have  in  the  work.  Con- 
secration  immediately   precedes  sanctification, 


7.6  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

and  ever  after  accompanies  it.  Faith  is  the 
only  condition  of  sanctification.  Faith  to 
beheve  God  has  promised  it  in  His  word ; 
faith  that  He  is  able  to  perform ;  faith  that 
He  is  willing,  and  that  He  does  do  it  just 
now. 

"  Oh,  it  is  nothing  but  believing  that  the 
past  has  had  one  glorious  atonement  made 
upon  the  Cross,  so  complete,  and  I  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it — all  done  by  the  Son 
of  God,  and  believing  that  the  shed  blood 
does  cleanse  from  sin ;  believing  also  that 
God  has  taken  your  will  as  you  laid  it  on 
the  altar,  you  have  nothing  but  His  will,  you 
leave  the  future  in  His  hands,  looking  to  Him 
moment  by  moment,  believing  that  He  does 
save  you,  for  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most. 

"  Satan  will  tempt  you  ;  but,  Maggie  dear, 
don't  stop  to  argue  with  him,  but  flee  right 
to  Christ,  saying,  '  He  is  able  to  succour.' 
You  can  usually  defeat  Satan  with  a  passage 
of  Scripture,  but  if  not  enough,  say  '  Glory  to 
the  Lamb  ! '  for  the  devil  cannot  bear  to  hear 
His  name.  Satan  is  making  grand  struggles 
for  my  soul,  but  Jesus  saves  me  just  now." 

In  the  light  of  her  after  life  and  service  for 
the  Lord,  it  is  beautiful  to  trace  how  wonder- 
fully He  was  leading  and  qualifying  this  dear 
child  of  His  for  future  usefulness  in  the 
mission    field.        Satan    always  makes    strong 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  27 

fight  for  souls  whom  the  Lord  destines  to  use 
greatly  in  His  service,  but  the  measure  of  the 
fight  is  the  measure  of  the  victory,  and  leads 
up  to  the  point  of  being  able  to  help  others 
that  are  tempted. 

This  same  leading  is  manifest  also  in  another 
aspect  in  her  early  life.  The  following  she 
says  did  much  to  teach  her  how  to  trust  the 
Lord  for  greater  things  :-  - 

"  I  had  been  a  Christian  less  than  three 
years,  when  one  summer,  with  a  journey  before 
me,  I  was  resting  in  a  village  in  Ohio.  The 
seven  dollars  necessary  for  my  railway  fare  I 
put  on  one  side  in  my  purse,  and  in  one  way 
and  another  I  spent  all  the  money  I  had 
remaining.  As  I  was  retiring  for  the  night, 
with  my  trunk  packed,  and  expecting  the 
omnibus  to  call  for  me  in  the  forenoon,  the 
thought  occurred  to  me  that  I  had  better  count 
that  money  and  see  if  it  were  all  right.  I  did 
so,  and,  to  my  dismay,  found  it  some  cents 
short.  I  racked  my  memory  in  vain  to  re- 
member where  I  had  spent  it,  or  what  had 
become  of  it.  I  felt  I  could  not  tell  any  one 
of  my  difficulty,  and  how  was  I  to  leave  in  the 
morning  with  not  enough  money  to  pay  my 
fare  ?  Then,  like  many  Christians,  I  began  to 
worry.  After  a  long  time  I  fell  asleep,  and  on 
awaking  in  the  morning  my  difficulty  like  a 
cloud  came  upon  me.  It  occurred  to  me  to 
tell  God  all  about  it,  and  in  so  doing   I   had 


28  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

peace  and  quietness.  In  about  half  an  hour  I 
heard  a  rap  at  my  door,  and  on  opening  it, 
found  a  gentleman  there  who  handed  me  the 
exact  sum,  twenty-three  cents.  I  asked  him 
why  he  did  it.  He  replied  that  one  day  in  an 
emergency  he  had  borrowed  it  of  me,  and  had 
forgotten  all  about  it  until  a  little  while  ago. 
I  had  forgotten  it,  too,  but  God  had  not,  and 
when  I  cried  unto  Him  He  delivered  me  by 
reminding  this  brother  of  that  sum.  But  my 
story  is  not  yet  finished.  In  departing  a 
friend,  who  was  in  poor  circumstances,  gave 
me  a  dollar.  I  refused  to  take  it,  feeling  hers 
was  the  greater  need,  assuring  her  that  I  had 
enough.  But  she  urged  it  upon  me  saying : 
'  You  may  need  it  to  get  something  on  the  way.' 
I  took  it  reluctantly  to  please  her,  secretly 
resolving  in  some  way  to  return  it.  When  I 
reached  the  city  I  found  to  my  astonishment 
the  fare  was  eight  dollars  instead  of  seven. 
Had  not  this  dear  woman  given  me  the  dollar 
I  would  have  been  alone  in  a  great  city  without 
enough  money  for  the  rest  of  my  journey. 
How  God's  care  humbled  me  !  He  not  only 
gave  me  the  few  cents  I  thought  I  needed,  but 
supplied  a  need  which  He  alone  foresaw,  and 
of  which  I  was  ignorant.  It  made  a  great 
impression  on  my  mind.  How  true  it  is  that 
He  '  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  ask  or  think  ! ' " 

Incidents  such  as  this,  which  she  loved  to 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  29 

relate  as  evidences  of  God's  care  for  His 
children,  encouraged  Miss  Frow  to  step  out  in 
faith  when  the  call  came  for  wider  service,  and 
it  was  revealed  to  her  that  her  life  was  to  be 
given  to  God  for  India. 

In  the  autumn  of  1876  she  was  a  member 
of  the  Literary  graduating  class  at  Oberlin, 
and  was  regarded  as  its  best  linguist.  Her 
intention  had  been  to  graduate  and  then  de- 
vote some  time  to  teaching,  until  she  should  at 
least  pay  the  expense  of  her  College  course. 
But  at  this  juncture  she  was  brought  to  face 
the  question  whether  it  was  the  Lord's  will  for 
her  to  leave  her  College  course  incomplete, 
and  go  at  once  to  India  as  a  missionary. 

Her  reply  was  characteristic  and  prompt. 
"  I  will  pray  about  it.  And  I  will  ask  God  if 
He  wants  me  to  go  to  India  at  this  time,  that 
He  will  send  money  to  pay  what  I  am  under 
an  obligation  to  refund  for  my  education,  and 
enough  also  for  my  outfit  and  passage  to 
India  ;  but  that  if  He  does  not  want  me  to  go 
now,  that  He  will  withhold  the  money." 

In  a  few  weeks  the  Lord  had  sent  her  the 
money,  her  own  plans  were  broken  off,  and 
her  way  made  perfectly  clear  to  go  to  India. 
A  part  of  the  sacrifice  no  one  knew  but  God. 
But  He  knew  and  accepted  her  all  as  she  laid 
it  on  the  altar,  but  afterwards  returned  the 
blessing  to  her  life  in  overflowing  measure. 

In  the  beautiful  story  she  tells  of  her  praying 


30  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Irish  friend,  "  Mary  Ann,"  she  relates  that 
when  she  received  her  marching  orders  for 
India  she  was  perplexed  about  leaving  her 
sister  Margaret,  who  was  much  of  an  invalid. 
Then  in  answer  to  prayer  the  Lord  reminded 
her  of  Mary  Ann.  "  I  can  never  forget  when 
asked  if  she  would  take  my  place  and  let  me 
go.  We  could  give  her  no  remuneration,  only 
a  home,  and  the  fact  that  she  freed  me  to  go. 
She  received  it  as  the  call  of  God." 

Her  sister  Margaret  writes  recalling  this 
period  :  "When  the  time  came  in  1876  that 
the  Lord  said  '  go  forward,'  the  cords  of  love 
that  bound  Jennie  to  the  hearts  of  her  family 
were  drawn  taut  Ourpjed  father  held  closely 
to  his  youngest  born,  but  the  Lord  in  His 
tender  mercy  spared  him  the  pain  of  the  separa- 
tion by  taking  him  to  the  heavenly  mansions 
just  three  weeks  before  she  was  to  sail  for 
India.  A  dear  brother  and  sister  only  were 
left  of  the  ties  of  the  flesh  to  surrender. 
Counting  all  things  as  nothing  to  follow  the 
excellency  of  God's  will  for  her,  the  pain  of 
the  good-bye  lost  its  sting.  To  the  sister 
came  such  a  vision  of  the  honour  the  Lord 
conferred  upon  her  by  calling  her  darling  to 
such  a  glorious  service,  that  when  the  farewell 
came  the  tears  were  stayed,  and  her  heart  said, 
'  Nay,  Lord,  I  will  not  give  Thee  a  weeping 
sacrifice.'  In  all  the  long  years  that  followed, 
when  the  great  waters  rolled  between  us  there 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  31 

was  never  any  desire  to  take  the  offering  from 
the  altar." 

Had  Miss  Frow  applied,  she  could  no  doubt 
have  been  sent  to  India  under  the  auspices  of 
one  of  the  large  and  established  Missionary- 
Boards.  But  her  sympathies  had  been  drawn 
out  towards  the  pioneer  faith  work  of  Albert 
and  Mary  Norton  at  Ellichpur,  and  she  felt 
that  the  Lord  was  calling  her  to  that  place  as 
her  future  sphere  of  labour.  She  went  out 
with  no  pledge  of  support  from  any  human 
source,  because  she  felt  that  thus  her  life  would 
tell  more  for  Christ  and  His  Kingdom.  One 
who  knew  her  well  at  this  time  says  that  the 
influence  of  Mr  Finney  may  be  traced  in 
this  decision.  He  felt  deeply  that  mission- 
aries and  preachers  generally  were  handicapped 
and  without  power  from  on  high,  because 
they  did  not  have  faith  to  the  extent  of  their 
duty  and  privilege.  Duncan  Matheson  said  : 
"  Reality  is  the  great  thing ;  I  have  always 
sought  reality."  This  was  very  true  of  our 
sister.  It  was  an  axiomatic  truth  with  her  that 
anything  she  might  say  would  be  of  no  weight 
unless  backed  by  her  life. 


CHAPTER  III 

STEPS  IN  FAITH  AND  ANSWERS  TO  PRAYER 

"  Take  this  child,  .  .  .   nmse  it  for  Me,  and  I 
will  give  thee  thy  wages!' 

Miss  Frow  arrived  in  India  on  January  4th, 
1877.  "  The  motto  of  her  missionary  life  from 
the  beginning  was,  *  Have  faith  in  God.'  She 
seemed  such  a  lonely  little  soul,  but  God  was 
with  her."  So  writes  a  life-long  friend  who 
met  her  for  the  first  time  when  she  landed,  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land,  on  the  shores  of 
India.  Thus  early  indeed  was  Miss  Frow's 
name  added  to  that  roll  of  honour,  which, 
beginning  in  the  eleventh  of  Hebrews,  still 
goes  on  receiving  additions  wherever  God's 
people  step  out  in  faith  on  His  promises,  in 
answer  to  His  call.  Like  Abraham,  Miss 
Frow  went  forth  not  knowing  whither  she 
went.  She  landed  in  Bombay  without  friends 
or  promise  of  financial  support ;  without 
special  training  for  the  mission  field  or  know- 
ledge of  the  country  and  people. 

One  seal  of  her  call  to  India  came  to  her  on 
the    voyage.       Among    her    fellow-passengers 
c  33 


34  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

was  a  pilot  of  Rangoon  harbour,  an  English 
sea  captain.  He  had  been  a  hater  of  missions 
and  missionaries.  But  the  gentleness  and 
Christlike  character  of  our  sister,  who  shone 
for  Jesus  amid  the  discomforts  of  an  ocean 
voyage,  touched  his  heart,  and  converted  him 
to  a  friend  of  missions.  He  afterwards  cor- 
responded with  her  and  sent  money  for  her 
work. 

Miss  Frow  received  a  warm  welcome  from 
Mr  and  Mrs  Norton.  Mr  Norton  came  to 
Bombay  to  meet  her  and  pilot  her  up  to  the 
wilds  of  Berar.  Her  early  missionary  experi- 
ences were  not  smooth,  but  they  fitted  her  to 
endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ.  She  needed  the  full  assurance  of  her 
call  to  India  to  enable  her  to  hold  on,  and  she 
had  it.  Later  on  she  was  wont  to  remark  that 
the  first  two  years  in  the  field  are  always  the 
most  trying  and  difficult,  and  generally  decide 
a  young  missionary's  career. 

Miss  Frow  served  an  apprenticeship  of 
three  and  a  half  years  at  Ellichpur,  part  of 
the  time  with  Mr  and  Mrs  Norton,  and  part 
with  Mr  and  Mrs  Sibley,  who  took  up  the 
work  there  and  enabled  Mr  Norton  to  branch 
out  into  labour  among  the  Kurkus,  the  hill 
tribe  inhabiting  the  southern  slopes  of  the 
Satpura  hills. 

The  records  that  remain  of  those  days  are 
meagre.     Miss  Frow  gained  a  colloquial  know- 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  35 

ledge  of  Hindustani  and  Marathi,  and  learned 
to  know  and  love  the  people.  The  usual 
duties  of  preaching  and  visiting  were  carried 
on  side  by  side  with  the  study  of  the  language. 

There  was  a  severe  famine  in  South  India 
in  1877-8.  It  was  some  two  to  three  hundred 
miles  away  from  Berar,  but  Miss  Frow's  heart 
was  stirred  on  hearing  of  missionaries  in  the 
affected  district  taking  some  of  the  orphans  to 
train  for  the  Lord.  She  felt  she  would  like 
to  have  a  share  in  such  a  blessed  work.  Mr 
Sibley  was  going  to  Bombay,  and  he  was 
commissioned  to  meet  Mr  C.  B.  Ward  of 
Bellary/  and  receive  from  him  six  orphan 
girls  and  bring  them  back  with  him  to  Ellich- 
pur.  Mr  Ward  was  gathering  in  large  num- 
bers of  orphans  in  the  Hyderabad  country  south 
of  Sholapur.  He  was  willing  to  give  the  girls 
but  it  was  with  some  difficulty  they  were 
persuaded  to  go,  and  were  taken  back  the  long 
journey  by  road  and  rail  to  Ellichpur. 

Most  of  them  were  mere  skeletons,  and  it 
required  the  greatest  care  and  watchfulness  to 
save  the  lives  of  two  or  three  of  them.  They 
were  like  little  Arabs  for  wildness,  with  no 
conception  of  truth  or  honesty.  In  fact  they 
were  so  depraved  that  the  first  efforts  to  train 
them  seemed  most  discouraging.  Finally, 
after  six  months,  the  most  trying  one,  and  the 

^  Now  of  Yellandu  and  Bastor.  Mr  Ward  was  one  of 
William  Taylor's  stalwarts  alluded  to  in  Chapter  I. 


^6  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

ringleader  in  mischief,  came  to  Miss  Frow  and 
expressed  sorrow  for  her  bad  conduct.  The 
Spirit  of  God  worked  on  their  hearts  and 
brought  them  wonderfully  to  see  that  they 
were  sinners,  and  they  all  yielded  themselves 
to  Jesus  for  salvation. 

A  few  weeks  later  Miss  Frow  received  a 
letter  from  a  Christian  blacksmith  in  Ohio, 
telling  her  that  at  a  certain  time  he  had  spent 
a  whole  evening  in  prayer  to  God  for  the 
conversion  of  these  children,  and  for  a  spiritual 
uplift  for  her  own  soul.  Miss  Frow  referred 
to  her  diary,  and  found  that  it  was  the  very 
day  that  the  first  signs  of  penitence  showed 
themselves  in  the  children.  He  told  her  to 
take  heart,  for  God  had  given  him  the  assur- 
ance that  all  would  be  saved.  Truly  the 
uplift  had  come,  and  the  incident  was  to  Miss 
Frow  ever  after  a  goodly  illustration  of  the 
text,  "  While  they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear." 

She  had  much  cause  to  praise  God  for  the 
change  wrought  in  the  children.  They  became 
truthful,  asked  for  what  they  wanted  instead 
of  stealing  it,  and  began  to  be  industrious  and 
obedient. 

But  there  was  one  thing  they  did  not  seem 
able  to  comprehend,  and  that  was  how  to  pray. 
One  little  girl  would  kneel  down  and  say  over 
and  over,  "  Lord,  make  me  a  good  girl  ;  Lord, 
make  me  a  good  girl."  Then  she  would  say 
"  Amen,"  and  think  she  had  prayed. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  '^^'^ 

In  the  mission  house  was  a  beautiful  Persian 
cat  which  became  the  children's  special  pet. 
One  evening  pussy  was  missing,  and  the 
children  were  inconsolable ;  they  thought  it 
would  be  killed  by  a  hyena  or  a  jackal. 
When  they  gathered  for  evening  prayer,  Miss 
Frow  proposed  they  should  tell  Jesus  about 
the  lost  pussy,  and  ask  that,  if  in  accord  with 
His  will,  it  should  be  brought  back  safely. 
This  was  something  real  and  definite  to  their 
minds,  and  they  listened  with  a  sort  of  awe. 

Early  in  the  morning  a  man  appeared  in 
the  compound  with  something  white  under 
his  arm.  The  girls  saw  it,  and  a  shout  went 
up,  "  Oh,  Mamma,  God  has  heard  prayer ; 
pussy  has  come  back." 

Miss  Frow  rejoiced  that  God  had  used  this 
simple  incident  to  teach  them  how  to  pray. 
And  especially  that  the  thought  that  their 
pet's  return  was  an  answer  to  prayer  was 
uppermost  in  their  minds.  From  that  time 
they  began  to  pray  from  their  hearts.  They 
realised  that  God  was  a  Person  who  heard  and 
knew  and  answered  them,  and  it  revealed  to 
them  His  love  and  willingness  in  giving  them 
back  what  was  a  great  joy  to  them. 

On  a  later  occasion,  when  supplies  ran  short 
for  their  support,  all  were  gathered  for  prayer. 
The  eldest  girl  knelt  and  said  :  "  O  Lord, 
the  young  lions  do  lack  and  suffer  hunger,  but 
they  that  seek  Thee  shall  never  lack."       And 


38  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

then  followed  with  a  simple  petition  that  God 
would  supply  their  need,  and  He  did. 

A  beggars'  service  was  held  on  the  verandah 
of  the  Ellichpur  mission  house  every  Sunday. 
This  is  a  common  institution  in  India. 
Beggars  of  all  sorts  abound.  There  are  the 
maimed,  halt,  lame,  blind,  young  and  old. 
It  is  easy  to  make  known  to  this  com- 
munity that  they  are  welcome  at  the  mission 
house  at  a  certain  hour  each  Sunday  and 
at  no  other  time.  And  they  come  and  listen 
to  the  Gospel  message  week  in  and  week 
out,  year  after  year,  for  the  sake,  in  most 
cases,  of  the  cup  of  rice,  or  other  grain,  or  the 
small  coin  of  money  that  is  distributed  to 
each  at  the  close. 

Among  those  who  attended  this  service  at 
Ellichpur  was  a  blind  boy,  almost  grown  to 
manhood,  whose  eager  clutch  at  the  reward 
did  not  give  much  encouragement  to  hope 
that  the  truth  was  entering  his  heart.  He 
would,  however,  frequently  stand  and  listen  to 
the  preaching  in  the  bazaar,  and  one  Sunday 
presented  himself,  saying  he  desired  to  become 
a  Christian.  The  missionaries  were  surprised 
that  he  had  retained  a  knowledge  of  divine 
things,  and  told  him  to  come  again  in  the 
afternoon.  He  was  there  promptly,  and  told 
them  he  had  been  to  his  relatives  to  tell  them 
he  was  going  to  become  a  Christian,  and  they 
asked    him    if    he    was  going    to    become    a 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  39 

Christian  for  his  stomach's  sake.  He  said,  "  I 
told  them  *  Yes,  for  my  stomach's  sake,'  for 
what  could  they  understand?"  Immediately, 
without  any  reproof  from  those  present,  he  fell 
down  on  his  knees,  and  cried  out,  "  O  Lord, 
save  me  from  lying,  and  from  all  sin."  He 
gave  further  evidence  that  his  heart  was 
genuinely  touched,  was  baptised  by  the  name 
of  Bartimeus,  and  became  a  useful  worker. 

A  small  bungalow  was  secured  at  Chikalda, 
the  little  sanatorium  on  the  hills,  and  formed 
a  welcome  hot  weather  resort  when  the  heat 
in  Ellichpur  became  too  great.  Going  to 
Chikalda  did  not  mean  any  cessation  of  labour 
for  Miss  Frow  and  her  co-workers,  they  found 
their  work  wherever  they  went,  and  testified 
of  the  saving  power  of  Jesus  to  the  people 
at  Chikalda  as  they  did  at  Ellichpur. 

A  scrap  of  Chikalda  experience  may  come 
in  here,  but  as  it  has  no  date  I  do  not  know 
exactly  when  to  locate  it.  Miss  Frow  wrote  : 
"  We  have  been  very  low  in  funds.  Our  box 
from  home  of  fruits,  etc.,  has  been  such  a 
luxury  and  supplied  all  the  lack  of  food  we 
could  not  buy.  We  have  had  some  royal  meals 
out  of  that  bean  bag  and  the  corn  bag. 
Neither  are  exhausted  yet.  The  night  the 
money  came  which  delivered  us,  one  of  the 
girls  said  to  me,  *  Mother,  we  will  eat  less.' 
My  heart  was  so  touched,  but  that  night's  mail 
brought  twenty-four  dollars  from  home.       It  is 


40  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

just  wonderful  how  the  dear  Lord  cares  for  us. 
We  are  so  far  from  all  provisions  up  here — 
eighteen  miles — that  even  at  the  best  our  food 
has  not  much  variety.  We  have  had  splendid 
success  making  tarts  with  the  dried  fruit  after 
your  recipe.  To-day  some  officer  who  has 
been  out  hunting  has  sent  us  in  a  small  leg 
of  venison,  and  a  jungle  fowl. 

"  Thus  the  dear  Lord  does  set  a  table  in  the 
wilderness.  Oh  why  will  men  not  put  their 
trust  in  Him  ?  '  The  young  lions  do  lack  and 
suffer  hunger,  but  they  that  seek  the  Lord 
shall  not  want  any  good  thing.'  But  strange  to 
say,  my  greatest  faith  text  for  daily  bread  is 
this  :  '  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you.' " 


CHAPTER  IV 

MISS    FROW    BECOMES    MRS    FULLER 

"  /  being  in  the  way  the  Lord  led  me," 

A  SEVERE  attack  of  jungle  fever,  followed  by 
a  relapse  of  the  same,  made  it  imperative  for 
Miss  Frow  to  seek  a  lengthened  rest,  and  led 
to  her  return  to  America  in  August,  1880. 

At  this  time  an  acquaintance  was  renewed 
which  had  been  laid  upon  the  altar  on  her  call 
and  departure  to  India,  with  the  result  that 
Miss  Frow  was  united  in  marriage  to  Marcus 
B.  Fuller,  an  old  friend  and  fellow  student, 
who  was  now  prepared  to  devote  his  life  also 
to  the  service  of  God  in  India.  The  marriage 
took  place  at  her  sister's  home  at  Lodi,  Ohio, 
on  April  6th,  1881.  Early  in  1882  Mr  and 
Mrs  Fuller  left  America  for  England  on  their 
way  to  India. 

Mrs  Fuller  was  unable  during  this  furlough 
to  do  so  much  as  she  desired  in  arousing 
interest  in  India's  needs,  but  in  a  quiet  way  was 
made  a  blessing  to  many.  In  all  her  furloughs 
home  (says  her  sister)  there  was  an  eagerness 
to  return  to  the   land  of  her  adoption,  and  to 

41 


42  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

her  work  there  as  a  precious  trust,  put  into 
her  hands,  as  she  felt,  by  the  King  of  Heaven. 

It  may  seem  incredible  to  some  readers, 
and  to  others  intensely  imprudent,  for  these 
young  people  to  start  on  their  way  to  India 
without  sufficient  means  to  complete  the 
journey.  They  met  with  opposition  and  dis- 
couragement from  home  friends  in  taking  this 
course,  but  they  saw  before  them  the  Lord 
guiding  and  leading,  and  were  content  to 
follow.  Among  the  few  letters  which  have 
been  preserved,  some  relate  to  this  journey,  and 
we  find  that  Mrs  Fuller  thoroughly  enjoyed 
the  experience.  She  again  proved  the  Lord's 
care  and  gracious  providing  Hand,  and  praised 
Him  for  so  ordering  their  journey  as  to  permit 
them  to  enjoy  several  weeks  in  London  and  a 
visit  to  Scotland  also.  Some  passages  from 
these  letters  will  help  the  story. 

London,  March  gth,  1882. — "We  spent  two 
weeks  at  Dr  Boardman's,  and  then  took  a  room 
near  by.  We  get  our  own  breakfasts,  and  are 
usually  out  for  dinner  and  tea.  Mark  and  I 
enjoy  being  r.lone,  a  luxury  we  have  not  had 
much  since  we  have  been  married.  I  have 
learned  to  love  the  Boardmans  very  much. 
They  have  a  meeting  for  holiness  every  Tues- 
day. I  do  not  think  I  ever  attended  a  meeting 
so  profitable  and  so  full  of  instruction.  Since 
Dr  Boardman  has  published  his  book  on  heal- 
ing  by   the    prayer    of   faith,   so    many  have 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  43 

written  to  him,  and  God  uses  him  wonderfully 
in  this  line  of  work.  .  .  .  Truly,  as  of  old,  '  I 
am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee.'  I  understand 
this  faith  as  never  before.  .  .  .  Oh,  I  realise, 
as  in  all  spiritual  things,  it  is  easy  to  get  hold 
of  it  theoretically,  and  not  practise  it.  I  was 
taught  a  simple  lesson  by  an  old  woman  when 
we  were  in  Scotland.  Mark  had  been  preach- 
ing, and  when  he  came  down  from  the  pulpit 
he  saw  this  dear  old  woman  with  a  bright  face, 
and  he  asked  her  if  she  were  a  Christian.  '  Oh 
yes,'  she  replied  boldly.  And  her  boldness  led 
Mark  to  suppose  she  had  been  one  some  time. 
So  he  continued  :  '  How  long  have  you  been  a 
Christian  ?  '  '  Oh,  just  since  you  have  been 
preaching.'  Wonderful  decision  of  soul.  She 
saw  the  truth  and  grasped  it  at  once.  How 
much  we  lose  by  not  making  a  promise  our 
own  the  moment  the  Spirit  illuminates  it  to 
us.  Oh,  let  us  live  up  to  the  light  we  receive, 
and  make  instant  decision  of  soul  as  soon  as 
we  see  the  truth.  I  saw  I  was  to  give  my 
body  to  Christ  as  His  body.  '  Therefore 
glorify  God  in  your  body,  and  in  your  spirit, 
which  are  Gods^ 

"  Our  visit  here  has  been  such  a  blessing  to 
us.  So  many  things  have  been  made  clear  to 
me.  How  kind  the  dear  Lord  has  been. 
There  has  one  difficulty  assailed  me  in  my 
spiritual  life,  and  it  is  only  this  last  year  that 
I  have  been  coming  out  of  it.      It  was  throw- 


44  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

ing  away  my  confidence.  When  I  first  became 
a  Christian,  I  would  sin  or  my  feelings  would 
go,  and  then  the  devil  would  whisper,  'You 
can't  be  a  Christian  and  feel  this  way,  or  do 
this  way.  You  are  deceived.'  I  would  listen 
and  say,  '  That's  so,'  and  throw  away  my  con- 
fidence, and  for  days  and  weeks  be  in  darkness 
and  unhappy.  Then  I  would  have  to  come 
back  to  the  Lord  and  do  the  first  works  over 
again.  I  did  that  many  times,  till  I  learned 
Satan's  device.  Then,  when  the  devil  would  say, 
'  See  here,  you  can't  be  a  Christian,'  instead  of 
throwing  away  all  God  had  done  for  me,  I 
would  reply,  '  Well,  if  I  am  not  a  Christian,  it 
is  high  time  I  became  one.  I  will  get  down 
on  my  knees  and  become  one.'  That  broke 
the  power  of  the  devil  there.  Well,  I  ceased 
to  have  any  doubts  as  to  my  acceptance,  when 
the  same  snare  would  be  spread  for  me 
later  on. 

"  I  sought  again  and  again  for  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  God  gave  it  to  me. 
Then  I  would  ask  Him  to  make  me  more  like 
Himself  To  do  this  He  would  have  to  show 
me  what  hindered,  and  the  sight  of  some  bit 
of  self  in  my  heart  would  throw  me  into 
despair.  I  would  say,  '  Could  such  a  heart  as 
that  have  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ? ' 
and  away  would  go  my  confidence.  Well, 
darkness  would  be  the  result,  until  I  came  back 
to  Him.      Perhaps  it  was  some  precious  testi- 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  45 

mony  or  experience  which  was  different  from 
mine,  and  I  would  say,  *  I  have  nothing  like 
that,'  and  away  would  go  my  confidence.  Or 
perhaps  it  was  the  experience  of  some  one  far 
ahead  of  me,  and  in  perfect  despair  I  would 
say,  '  I  can  never  attain  to  that,'  and  away 
would  go  my  confidence  again.  Over  and 
over  I  have  done  this,  but  now  I  have  learned 
to  hold  fast  my  confidence.  If  the  Lord 
shows  me  some  bit  of  self  in  my  heart,  I  have 
learned  to  thank  Him.  How  He  must  love 
us  to  take  such  pains  to  let  nothing  remain 
that  hinders  our  very  prayer  to  be  like  Him. 
If  some  one  is  far  ahead  of  me,  He  helps  me 
not  to  go  into  despair,  but  to  thank  Him  for 
the  new  light.  He  will  bring  us  through  in  His 
own  way.  '  Cast  not  away  therefore  your  con- 
fidence, which  has  great  recompense  of  reward.' 
I  need  patience  to  let  the  Lord  mould  me  as 
He  will,  not  dictating  to  Him  how  to  do  it.  I 
have  given  up  all  hope  of  self  to  expect  any- 
thing from  self,  but  to  have  all  things  in 
Christ.  '  Let  us  come  boldly.'  I  have  lost  so 
much  by  feeling  I  would  not  have  this  or  that, 
I  was  so  unworthy.  That  is  not  true  humility. 
The  Lord  likes  to  have  us  bold. 

"  Once  in  India  when  some  disapproved  of 
me,  and  I  felt  so  downcast  that  maybe  God 
did  too,  I  asked  Him  to  give  me  just  one 
verse  to  show  how  He  viewed  me.  Trembling 
for  fear  it  would    be    some    condemnation,   I 


46  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

went  to  the  Bible  and  got  these  words  :  *  He 
that  toucheth  you  toucheth  the  apple  of  His 
eye.'  I  drew  back  ;  I  thought  I  must  be  mis- 
taken. 1  could  not  think  that  I  was  the  apple 
of  His  eye.  So  I  pled  that  He  would  speak 
to  me  once  more.  Again  were  the  same  words 
given  me.  But  I  could  not  believe  it.  I  said, 
*  Dear  Lord,  don't  be  grieved  with  me.  Try 
me  just  once  more,  and  I  will  not  ask  again.' 
Again  the  third  time  I  got  the  same  words. 
Oh,  do  let  us  take  God  at  His  word.  It  is 
true  we  are  unworthy,  but  He  never  expects 
us  to  be  worthy.  We  never  can  be,  but  it 
grieves  Him  when  we  do  not  take  Him  at  His 
word.  He  does  these  things  for  us  for  His 
own  sake. 

"  The  Spirit  once  revealed  to  me,  as  I  was 
feeling  my  prayers  did  not  avail,  that  I  was 
secretly  trying  to  recommend  myself  to  God  ; 
that  on  account  of  my  goodness  or  faithfulness 
He  would  hear  me.  I  started  back.  Oh  !  I 
came  only  in  Jesus'  name.  The  first  petition 
we  learned  at  our  mother's  knee,  '  for  Jesus' 
sake,'  sometimes  takes  years  for  us  to 
know  what  it  means.  There  can  never  be 
any  good  thing  in  me.  I  have  all  things  in 
Christ.  *  All  things  are  yours  .  .  .  and  ye  are 
Christ's.'  And  I  can  only  do  through  Him. 
May  the  Lord  find  us  thus  empty  that  He  can 
work  through  us.  .   .  . 

"  We  have  learned  so  much  in  our  visiting 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  47 

time  here.  How  precious  it  has  been.  Dear 
Mark  has  always  wanted  to  spend  a  few  weeks 
in  England.  If  we  had  had  the  money  to  go 
on  direct  to  India  we  would  have  been  on  our 
way.  But  God  had  better  things  in  store  for 
us,  and  we  have  been  detained.  He  keeps 
adding  to  our  store  of  passage  money.  I  was 
asked  to  speak  at  the  Y.M.C.A.  Rooms.  When 
I  got  through,  a  dear  man,  a  Christian  pub- 
lisher, put  a  sovereign  in  my  hand.  Last 
evening  I  went  out  with  Mrs  B.  The  gentle- 
man of  the  house  had  said  nothing  to  me,  but 
on  hearing  I  was  a  missionary  asked  me  what 
Board  I  was  under.  I  told  him  that  we  had  no 
pledged  support.  Without  a  word — God  in- 
clined his  heart — he  laid  twenty  shillings  in 
my  hand.  We  went  from  there  to  a  drawing- 
room  meeting.  God  helped  me  to  speak,  but 
not  concerning  missions.  We  had  only  spent 
a  few  pence  for  omnibus  hire  to  get  there,  but 
the  friends  made  us  take  five  shillings  for 
expenses.  Mrs  Boardman  insisted  on  my  having 
the  balance. 

"  I  came  home  and  found  Mark,  and  laid  it 
little  by  little  in  the  palm  of  his  hand.  He 
retaliated  by  showing  a  letter  which  had  con- 
tained five  pounds.  The  writer  said  it  had 
been  sent  her  for  a  certain  purpose  which  had 
already  been  provided  for,  and  so  she  had 
great  joy   in   sending  it  on   to   me. 

"  Thus  God  gives  us  our  hire,  and  when  He 


48  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

lifts  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  with  the  com- 
mand '  Go  forward/  we  shall  have  enough  and 
to  spare.  When  the  fragments  are  measured 
sometimes  there  are  twelve  baskets  over. 

"  Mark  said  the  other  day  at  breakfast : 
*  We  could  not  have  felt  that  it  was  best  for 
us  to  stay  so  long,  nor  would  our  friends  have 
thought  it  a  wise  use  of  money,  but  God 
managed  it.'  How  truly  they  that  trust  in 
Him  are  never  confounded  ! 

"  I  want  you  to  pray  much  for  us  and  feel 
it  your  work  as  much  as  if  you  were  in  the 
field.  I  have  had  wondrous  views  of  what  God 
wants  to  do  at  EUichpur.  You  and  Mary  Ann 
can  help  us  as  if  you  were  with  us.  Feel  it 
your  work  as  well  as  ours." 

London,  March  20th. — "  Dearest  ones,  we 
are  off  for  Bombay  this  week.  We  sail 
Wednesday.  The  Lord  has  been  indeed 
good  to  us  in  letting  us  stay  so  long  in 
London.  It  has  been  so  rich  in  blessing  to  our 
souls.  You  will  hear  from  us  several  times  on 
our  way  to  Bombay.  Hurrah  !  I  feel  like  a 
bird.  I  can  hardly  wait  to  get  there.  *  Thou 
openest  Thine  hand  and  satisfiest  the  desire  of 
every  living  thing.'  Have  not  we  proved  it 
true  !  We  learn  that  Brother  Sibley  is  expect- 
ing to  come  to  Bombay  to  meet  us.  Is  not 
that  splendid  ! " 

N earing  Port  Said,  s.s.  Ancona,  April  2,^d, 
1882. — "  You  will  see  by  our  letter  to  N 


A  Life  for  God  in  India 


49 


that  up  to  within  one  day  of  Malta  we  had 
very  rough  weather  from  Gibraltar.  That  last 
day  we  felt  was  given  us  in  answer  to  prayer. 
'  He  knoweth  our  frame.'  We  found  our- 
selves in  Malta  bright  and  early  on  Thursday 
morning.  The  only  young  lady  on  board  had 
had  her  trunks  left  behind,  and  I  agreed  to  go 
ashore  with  her  to  procure  clothing.  It  adds 
to  the  interest  of  the  place  to  know  the  Apostle 
Paul  was  once  here.  On  landing  we  were 
besieged  by  men  wanting  to  act  as  guides. 
One  man  with  a  carriage  followed  us  a  long 
way.  He  seemed  to  feel  that  we  would  lose 
our  way  and  be  forced  to  take  him.  But  he 
did  not  know  that  we  had  the  God  of  Jacob 
with  us.  I  lifted  up  my  heart  that  we  might 
find  some  English  person  to  speak  to.  Then 
we  sat  to  rest,  for  we  were  all  tired  out  with 
our  climbing  up  the  steep  narrow  street.  As 
we  sat  an  English  lady,  dressed  in  black, 
hurriedly  passed  us.  I  eagerly  touched  her 
arm  and  she  kindly  directed  us  to  the  main 
thoroughfare,  to  an  English  shop  where  we 
could  get  what  we  wanted  and  the  prices  were 
fixed.  Once  in  the  cool  shop  with  a  bona-fide 
English  girl  to  wait  upon  us,  filled  us  with 
gratitude. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  how  I  enjoyed  those 
hours  on  land.  The  air  so  fragrant  and 
balmy !  Such  flowers,  beautiful  roses,  gera- 
niums,   heliotrope,    pansies,    etc.,    and    orange 


50  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

trees  bearing  both  blossoms  and  fruit.  But 
one  o'clock  was  the  hour  set  for  sailing,  and  we 
must  get  back  to  the  ship,  so  leaving  all  the 
beauty  (which,  like  everything  else,  has  its 
alloy  in  beggars,  etc.),  we  stepped  into  a  little 
boat  and  were  rowed  back  with  our  hands 
full  of  packages,  rough  baskets  of  oranges  and 
lemons  and  our  flowers.  And  how  tenderly 
we  have  been  shielded  since.  The  sea  has 
been  so  smooth  and  there  has  been  no  rocking 
until  last  evening  and  to-day.  To-morrow 
morning  early  we  anchor  at  Port  Said." 

April  A,th. — "  We  entered  the  Canal  this 
forenoon.  .  .  .  We  are  both  so  well.  Some- 
times I  am  a  wonder  to  myself  When  I 
think  how  I  realised  all  this  dimly  by  faith 
when  we  began  to  get  ready,  I  can  see  it 
was  God  leading  us,  else  we  would  never  have 
had  the  courage  to  go  through  all  the  opposi- 
tion and  discouragement  we  received.  It  is 
nearly  three  months  since  we  left  you,  and  I 
never  spent  such  a  blessed  three  months  in 
my  life.  We  have  learned  so  much;  it  has 
been  full  of  teaching.  Oh,  if  I  could  sit  down 
by  you  and  recount  it  all  step  by  step  it  would 
fill  your  heart  full  of  praise  too.  Unbelief  has 
been  the  cause  of  all  my  spiritual  troubles,  and 
of  many  temporal  ones  also.  '  He  is  faithful 
that  promised.' " 

Chikalda,  May  2nd,  1882. — "When  we 
reached   Aden    and    I    realised   we   were   less 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  51 

than  a  week's  journey  from  India,  it  seemed 
too  good  to  be  true.  The  last  two  nights  on 
ship-board  I  could  not  sleep  well.  My  heart 
was  pressed  so  full.  We  landed  on  Tuesday, 
April  1 8th,  and  Mark  and  I  arose  very  early 
that  we  might  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  land 
— the  land  of  our  adoption.  Soon  we  dis- 
cerned it  like  a  shadow  upon  the  water. 
Bolder  and  bolder  it  became  until  I  could 
distinguish  the  familiar  parts  of  the  harbour, 
and  soon  the  city  itself  lay  stretched  out  before 
us — Bombay.  Yes,  India.  I  could  only  offer 
my  life  afresh  to  Him  to  use  according  to  His 
own  purpose  and  glory  in  this  dark  land. 

"  How  eagerly  I  watched  the  boats  coming 
off  to  the  ship,  to  catch  the  glimpse  of  a 
familiar  face.  Friends  met  friends  ;  but  none 
came  for  us,  and  I  turned  downstairs  to  my 
cabin.  Soon  I  heard  my  name,  and  there 
stood  Mr  Mody,  a  converted  Parsee,  and  now 
a  missionary  in  Bombay.  To  his  greeting  he 
added  the  words,  '  Mr  Sibley  is  on  deck  with 
your  husband.'  Soon  we  had  each  other  by 
the  hand,  and  oh  what  memories  of  days 
spent  in  work  together  at  dear  old  Ellichpur 
crowded  in  upon  me.  We  were  like  three 
little  children.  The  tears  were  very  near  the 
surface,  and  when  we  arrived  at  the  home  ot 
Mr  Mody  how  sweet  it  was  to  fall  upon  our 
knees  in  praise  and  thanksgiving.  We  stayed 
two  days  in  Bombay  getting  our  baggage  off 


52  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

and  other  business  attended  to,  and  on  Thurs- 
day morning  turned  our  faces  Ellichpur-ward. 
The  heat  in  Bombay  was  great  though  tem- 
pered by  a  dehcious  sea-breeze,  but  we  knew 
our  journey  up  country  would  not  be  thus 
tempered.  And  yet  how  God  did  shield  us. 
It  was  a  wonderful  journey,  which  we  will  all 
ever  remember.  We  were  from  8  A.M.  Thurs- 
day till  7.30  A.M.  Friday  reaching  our  railway 
station.  We  stayed  until  evening  in  the 
travellers'  bungalow  before  venturing  to  start 
for  Ellichpur. 

"  Dear,  faithful  Abraham  met  us  at  the 
station.  At  last  we  were  on  our  way.  The 
journey  grew  shorter  and  shorter.  Our  hearts 
were  full.  We  had  had  nothing  but  mercies 
all  the  way.  Our  God  had  encompassed  us 
about.  As  our  wheels  crushed  the  gravel 
walk  up  to  the  door,  first  Mrs  Sibley  came 
out,  then  all  the  girls  and  native  Christians, 
although  it  was  only  2  A.M.  In  the  morning 
we  had  a  thanksgiving  service. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  my  emotions  as  I  looked 
into  the  faces  of  the  dear  native  Christians 
and  remembered  so  vividly  the  days  when  we 
toiled  on  alone,  when  the  heavens  seemed 
brass,  when  we  were  as  a  sparrow  on  the 
housetop,  and  now  how  God  had  enriched  us ! 
As  I  went  about  and  saw  the  answered  prayers, 
how  full  of  praise  I  became !  There  was  one 
thing  I  had  asked  of  God  more  than  two  years 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  $;^ 

ago.  I  had  had  no  intimation  that  it  had  ever 
been  answered,  and  yet  here  it  was  so  richly 
answered.  How  it  taught  me  to  wait  upon 
God.  Then  I  wish  you  could  have  feU  the 
contrasts  in  the  girls  as  I  did.  The  wild 
untutored  children  who  came  to  us,  and  the 
womanly  girls  with  us  now,  it  would  do  your 
heart  good. 

"  We  are  prone  to  call  ourselves  '  a  little 
mission,'  and  yet  my  deep  conviction  in  coming 
back  after  a  twenty  months'  absence  is  this, 
which  I  have  said  over  and  over  to  myself: 
'This  is  a  vine  of  His  own  planting.' 
Pray  much  for  the  labourers  and  waterers. 

"We  came  up  to  Chikalda  in  a  few  days 
as  the  heat  in  Ellichpur  was  very  great.  The 
Sabbath  before  we  left  we  had  a  communion 
service.  Mark  preached  in  English  and  Mr 
Sibley  addressed  the  native  Christians  in 
Hindustani.  This  remembrance  of  His  death 
was  never  before  so  precious.  It  was  a  blessed 
season  to  us  all.  What  shall  we  render  to 
the  Lord  for  all  His  benefits?  We  could  do 
nothing  but  give  back  our  lives  to  Him  to  be 
used  as  He  wished. 

"  We  had  quite  an  experience  getting  up  to 
Chikalda,  and  Mark  got  his  first  taste  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  Indian  travel.  I  came  in  a  palan- 
quin, the  others  by  the  new  road  in  the  coach 
with  the  children  in  a  cart.  Both  had  bad 
bullocks,  and  the  time  they  had  with  them! 


54  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

They  expected  to  meet  me  here  in  the  morning, 
but  were  detained  over  until  another  night  at  the 
halfway  place.  They  had  the  keys  and  the 
money.  Everything  was  locked,  but  I 
borrowed  some  food  and  got  along  nicely. 
Our  experiences  in  getting  settled  would  make 
you  smile.  Our  water  supply  is  a  mile  away, 
and  the  leathern  bag  in  which  it  is  brought 
burst,  so  that  for  a  few  days  we  were  limited 
to  a  very  little  water,  and  that  had  a  bad 
taste.  We  all  took  colds.  The  mat-man 
who  had  agreed  to  cover  our  floors  failed  to 
put  in  an  appearance,  but  we  finally  got 
settled,  and  our  rooms,  furnished  with  the  gifts 
of  you  dear  ones,  are  a  little  home-like.  .  .   . 

"  My  days  are  full  and  busy.  How  I  wish 
you  could  see  the  girls,  and  how  hard  they 
try  to  please.  Shanti  (Peace),  the  oldest  girl, 
is  growing  into  such  a  beautiful  Christian,  and 
is  such  a  solid  comfort  and  help  to  me,  so 
steady  and  trustworthy.  She  knows  she  is 
dull,  and  how  she  seeks  God's  help  to  learn, 
and  how  He  gives  it !  If  you  had  been  in  the 
native  prayer  meeting  this  afternoon,  you 
would  have  been  touched  by  her  testimony,  as 
we  all  were.  Six  heathen  were  present,  and 
listened  attentively. 

"  Shanti  said  :  '  Before  I  was  a  Christian,  I 
sinned  without  a  care.  I  lied,  stole,  quarrelled, 
etc.,  without  any  concern.  I  cannot  do  so 
now.     If  I  sin,  I  am  so  sad,  and  when  I  am 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  ^^ 

victor  over  sin  it  is  such  joy.'  That  is  a 
meagre  translation  of  her  words,  but  she  told 
me  afterwards  of  her  struggle  with  God's 
Spirit.  '  He  would  tell  me  to  speak  ;  then  I 
would  question,  Would  it  be  proper  to  say  this 
before  all  ?  But  the  Spirit  would  say  in  my 
heart.  Speak,  speak !  And  finally  it  came 
that  in  refusing  I  would  only  incur  more  sin, 
and  I  begged  His  help  and  power,  and  spoke.' 
"  I  do  so  enjoy  the  Bible  lesson  with  the 
girls.  We  have  the  Life  of  Christ  under 
consideration,  and  it  would  do  you  good  to 
see  them  with  their  Bibles.  We  have  eight 
girls  now  with  the  baby.  I  do  not  know  how 
long  we  will  be  able  to  keep  Tara,  the  new 
girl,  but  she  is  '  a  bud  of  promise,'  and  I  hope 
she  has  been  given  us  for  her  good.  I  wish 
you  could  see  their  sewing,  it  is  really  very 
nice.  They  have  so  much  to  tell  me,  so  the 
sewing  class  is  a  very  chatty  hour.  They 
have  improved  so  under  Mrs  Sibley's  care." 


CHAPTER    V 

BUSY    YEARS    IN    AKOLA 

"  Kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith" 

The  spiritual  destitution  of  Berar  as  a  whole 
pressed  heavily  upon  the  souls  of  the  few 
workers  at  Ellichpur.  Much  prayer  was  made 
for  this  needy  province,  and  before  twelve 
months  had  passed  it  was  made  clear  to  Mr 
and  Mrs  Fuller  that  they  should  branch  out 
and  open  work  for  God  in  one  of  the  other 
large  cities  of  Berar,  where  no  flag  for  Christ 
yet  floated  on  the  breeze.  The  Akola 
district  was  chosen,  and  a  few  months  passed 
at  the  town  of  Akote,  but  a  final  settlement 
was  made  at  Akola,  a  town  on  the  main  line 
of  railway,  about  one  day's  journey  nearer  to 
Bombay  than  Ellichpur.  A  graphic  picture 
of  their  experiences  at  this  time  comes  from 
Mrs  Fuller's  own  pen  : 

"  We  were  detained  for  a  few  months  on 
our  way  to  our  new  station  by  a  flooded 
river,  so  we  took  rooms  in  a  large  Government 
building  in  which  were  several  families.  Our 
next  door  neighbour  was  the  owner  of  three 

57 


58  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

large  powerful  dogs.  One  of  them  had  been 
bitten  by  a  mad  dog,  but,  loth  to  part  with  it, 
he  refused  to  kill  it,  and  as  time  passed,  it 
had  been  almost  forgotten. 

"  One  Saturday  night,  w^hile  my  husband 
was  suffering  from  fever,  one  of  these  dogs, 
called  *  Fanny,'  came  in  our  back  porch  and 
kept  leaping  over  the  chairs  and  table.  It 
kept  us  awake.  I  hunted  the  house  over  for 
a  large  riding  whip  to  give  her  a  blow  or  two, 
and  thus,  as  I  thought,  teach  her  never  to 
come  again.  But  I  could  not  find  it.  It  was 
God's  hidden  care  of  me,  and  I  knew  it  not. 
So  I  opened  the  door  and  bade  her  go.  Had 
I  struck  her  she  might  have  leaped  upon  me. 
How  God  covered  me  in  the  time  of  danger  I 
came  afterwards  to  know. 

"  The  next  day,  as  we  were  preparing  for 
our  weekly  service,  I  heard  my  husband  cry 
out,  *  Shut  the  door  at  once,  and  call  in  the 
servants.  Fanny  is  mad,  and  has  the  M.'s 
servant  pinned  down  to  the  ground.'  It 
seemed  hours,  though  only  a  few  moments 
elapsed,  before  a  gun  was  fired  ;  the  dog  was 
dead,  and  the  poor  man  freed  with  an  ugly 
bite  in  his  arm.  We  did  all  we  could  for  him, 
but  he  died  from  hydrophobia  nearly  two 
months  afterwards.  It  was  a  great  shock  to 
me,  though  deeply  touched  with  God's  protect- 
ing care.  Truly  He  had  covered  us  with  His 
feathers. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  59 

"  Not  long  afterwards  we  moved  on  to  our 
new  station.  The  town  was  over-run  with 
half  starved  mangy  dogs  that  no  one  owned  or 
cared  for.  They  invaded  our  premises  and 
stole  our  fowls  and  everything  they  could  get 
at.  My  husband  shot  one  or  two  that  were 
very  troublesome,  and  one  that  was  really  mad. 
Now  an  orthodox  Hindu  will  not  take  the 
life  of  anything,  not  even  of  an  insect.  In 
their  belief  in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  they 
fear  some  deceased  relative  or  friend  might  be 
in  the  animal  or  insect,  and  it  would  be 
murder.  Pious  Hindus  take  the  greatest 
precautions.  A  fine  young  man  once,  assum- 
ing to  be  an  enquirer,  came  to  me  to  be  taught 
the  Bible.  He  adroitly  turned  the  conversa- 
tion to  the  Ten  Commandments.  When  we 
reached  '  Thou  shalt  not  kill,'  he  attacked  me 
hotly  with  accusations  of  taking  life.  It  was 
evidently  the  sole  object  of  his  visit. 

"  Now  this  place  we  were  living  in  was  very 
bigoted,  and  the  fact  that  my  husband  shot 
three  dogs  caused  much  talk.  The  devil  took 
advantage  of  it  to  break  up  almost  every 
open-air  service.  One  evening  my  husband 
came  home  heart-sick  and  weary,  saying,  *  Oh ! 
if  God  would  deliver  us  from  this  dog  question! ' 
We  knelt  and  committed  the  whole  matter  in 
prayer  to  Him.  In  a  short  time  deliverance 
came  through  a  most  painful  circumstance. 
We  were  sent  for  to  visit  a  man  who  was  ill. 


6o  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

My  husband  went  and  found  it  was  hydro- 
phobia, and   it  proved   fatal. 

"  After  all  was  over  I  went  to  the  house 
with  a  word  of  sympathy.  He  was  a  fine 
young  fellow  of  high  caste  and  much  beloved. 
His  caste  men  gathered  around  me,  and  one 
old  man  said  sadly,  '  Madam,  your  husband  is 
right,  he  is  right,'  and  a  murmur  of  approval 
ran  through  the  crowd.  The  whole  subject  of 
my  husband  taking  life  was  dropped  from  that 
day.  And  not  only  that,  but  if  they  suspected 
a  dog  was  mad,  they  would  beg  him  to  come 
and  shoot  it." 

In  the  years  of  their  life  at  Akola,  Mr  and 
Mrs  Fuller  followed  the  same  lines  of  faith  in 
God  for  the  supply  of  all  their  needs.  One 
who  knew  them  well  at  this  time  says  :  "  Their 
life  was  not  an  easy  one ;  but  like  Israel  of 
old^  they  were  tested  and  prepared  to  lead 
others  in  the  way  of  faith.  Making  Akola 
their  headquarters,  they  itinerated  in  the 
surrounding  villages  as  well  as  preached  the 
Gospel  in  the  native  city,  worked  among  the 
educated  natives,  and  testified  to  the  Europeans 
in  Berar. 

"  Mrs  Fuller  had  the  gift  of  sympathy  with 
all  classes  of  people.  There  was  nothing 
priggish  or  exclusive  about  her  religion.  She 
took  people  as  she  found  them,  and  met  them 
in  their  special  circumstances  of  need.    Children 

^  Deut.  viii.  3 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  61 

were  gathered  in  and  cared  for.  Many  workers 
came  to  join  their  mission,  but  one  of  the  trials 
of  this  period  was  that  few  continued  with 
them,  and  Mrs  Fuller  learned  by  experience 
the  peculiar  difficulties  of  union  in  faith 
mission  work.  Instead  of  being  exempt  from 
trial  they  seemed  to  pass  through  every  kind 
of  trial  that  they  might  learn  how  to  succour 
others.  As  the  years  passed  there  did  not 
seem  to  be  as  much  progress  or  so  great 
results  as  faith  had  led  these  devoted  workers 
to  expect.  In  waiting  upon  God  in  prayer, 
He  sometimes  gave  wonderful  visions  of  what 
He  was  going  to  do — and  still  the  vision 
tarried.  In  the  light  of  after  years  we  can  see 
how  all  these  experiences  and  preparation 
were  necessary  to  fit  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  to  be 
leaders  of  that  large  band  of  missionaries  of 
the  Alliance  Mission  which  God  was  about  to 
lead  forth  from  America.  They  became 
thoroughly  well  versed  in  all  branches  of 
missionary  work  and  missionary  trial,  and 
obtained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Marathi,  to 
the  careful  study  of  which  Mrs  Fuller  attached 
great  importance." 

During  these  years  a  little  family  was 
growing  up  around  them.  The  best  of  Mrs 
Fuller's  life  was  given  to  God  and  His  service, 
but  next  to  that  came  her  children.  How  she 
loved  them  and  watched  over  them  and  coveted 
every  permissible  pleasure  and  indulgence  for 


62  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

them.  Any  kindness  shown  to  her  children 
always  lived  in  her  heart  and  called  forth  her 
warmest  gratitude.  But  griefs  as  well  as  joys 
came  with  the  children.  Two  sweet  little  girls, 
Margaret  and  Faith,  buds  of  promise,  were 
early  taken  to  the  heavenly  home. 

Besides  the  care  of  her  little  ones,  a  strenu- 
ous part  was  taken  by  Mrs  Fuller  herself  in 
all  the  lines  of  work  enumerated.  When 
Mr  Fuller  was  absent  itinerating  in  the 
villages  the  burden  of  the  Mission  at  Akola 
rested  on  her  frail  shoulders.  She  has  told 
some  pathetic  stories  of  her  life  at  this  time. 
For  her  there  was  no  regular  relief  and  change 
as  the  hot  season  came  round,  such  as  is  con- 
sidered necessary  for  most  Europeans  who  live 
on  the  burning  plains  of  India.  For  six  years 
she  and  her  husband  found  it  impossible  to 
take  a  journey  together.  But  there  came  a 
time  when,  after  an  illness,  she  was  in  a  very 
low  bodily  condition,  tormented  with  neuralgia 
and  racked  with  pain  and  sleeplessness.  She 
says  :  "  I  needed  a  chan"ge  of  air,  and  to  go  to 
the  dentist's,  but  was  too  weak  to  take  the 
journey  alone  to  Bombay  with  three  little 
children,  so  my  husband  accompanied  us.  I 
can  never  tell  anyone  the  luxury  of  that 
journey — to  have  no  care  or  responsibility ; 
nothing  to  do  but  to  let  everything  go  into  my 
husband's  hands,  and  rest !  If  little  Margaret 
fretted,   or  was   hungry,  he  soothed   her.     If 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  6^ 

the  older  children  were  restless,  he  restrained 
them.  When  we  changed  trains  late  in  the 
evening  I  did  not  have  to  think  of  the  luggage. 
I  did  just  what  he  told  me  to  do,  and  he  took 
all  the  responsibility.  How  delicious  the  sense 
of  abandonment  was  !  I  can  never  foget  it. 
Afterward  a  Voice  said  :  'If  you  would  let  all 
your  life  and  work  go  into  My  Hands,  I  would 
take  all  the  care  and  responsibility  of  every- 
thing, and  you  might  rest  and  be  free.'  Yes, 
I  understood  it  afresh.  I  could  let  go  the 
strain  and  push  and  care,  and  let  the  govern- 
ment be  upon  His  shoulder.  I  knew  then 
what  it  meant  by  '  casting  all  your  care  upon 
Him,  for  He  careth  for  you.'  " 

To  the  glory  of  God,  and  as  an  illustration 
of  how  real  the  promises  and  comforts  of  His 
love  were  made  to  her  soul,  she  related  the 
above  and  other  incidents.  At  another  time 
of  prostration  and  weakness  she  was  dreading 
the  approach  of  the  hot  season,  which  is  also 
the  season  of  Hindu  weddings — a  season  of 
brass  bands,  torchlight  processions,  and  general 
noise  and  tumult,  especially  at  night,  to  which 
their  house  in  the  native  city  was  peculiarly 
exposed.  She  wrote :  "  As  one  procession 
passed  our  door  my  courage  failed.  The 
drumming  seemed  all  on  the  top  of  my  head, 
and  I  felt  I  could  never  endure  days  of  it. 
Something  said,  '  You  must  get  away  from 
here,'  and  not  realising  that  it  was  temptation, 


04  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

I  responded  *  Yes/  while  my  brain  was  busy 
with  plans  of  escape.  Then  these  words  came  : 
'  No,  do  not  go  away.  These  are  God's  cir- 
cumstances. He  is  able  to  deliver  you. 
Underneath  are  the  Everlasting  Arms.'  I 
did  just  what  I  should  have  done  at  first,  I 
let  go  clinging  to  God,  let  go  my  fears  and 
just  dropped  down  into  the  Everlasting  Arms. 
Oh,  what  rest !  I  did  not  have  far  to  drop,  and 
they  felt  so  solid.  .  .  .  Not  only  did  my  heart 
get  rest  and  peace  from  its  fears  and  anxiety, 
in  the  willingness  to  let  God  care  for  my 
surroundings,  but  He  did  not  let  that  proces- 
sion pass  the  house  again.  It  was  no  longer 
a  theory — I  knew  how  to  drop  into  the  Ever- 
lasting Arms." 

The  orphanage  work  begun  at  Ellichpur  with 
the  six  famine  orphans,  as  previously  related, 
was  continued  and  augmented  at  Akola.  Boys 
as  well  as  girls  were  received.  Industrial  works 
were  established  under  the  care  of  James  P. 
Rogers,  a  skilled  mechanic  of  American  birth, 
but  descended  from  the  English  martyr, 
"  Master  John  Rogers  "  (as  Foxe  terms  him), 
who  suffered  for  his  faith  in  the  days  of 
Queen  Mary.  These  works  were  opened  with 
the  view  of  training  the  boys  in  habits  of 
industry.  They  were  thus  among  the  pioneers 
of  Industrial  Mission  work,  a  subject  which 
the  recent  five  years  of  famine  has  forced  upon 
Indian  Missions  generally. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  6$ 

A  product  of  the  old  plan  of  training 
boys  in  mission  schools  was  thus  described 
by  another  writer,  after  a  trying  experience 
of  attempting  to  get  several  youths  of  the 
same  class  to  engage  in  manual  labour. 
*'  Yesu  Das  was  sure  he  could  preach,  had 
never  been  converted,  could  not  cook,  never 
learned  any  sort  of  work,  not  strictly  honest, 
either  in  tongue  or  fingers — but  a  candidate 
for  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ ;  self-assured 
of  his  fitness  for  such  work." 

Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  gave  much  thought  to 
this  question,  and  to  the  whole  future  of  the 
Indian  Christian  Church  with  the  view,  so  far 
as  their  share  of  the  problem  was  concerned, 
of  raising  up  a  self-reliant,  independent,  self- 
propagating  Christian  community.  Visitors 
to  their  workshop  have  been  much  struck 
with  the  element  of  cheerful  briskness  and 
sturdy  independence  that  pervaded  the  place. 

In  1883,  Mr  Fuller  took  into  the  orphanage 
a  boy  named  Kunwadi,  the  son  of  a  Madras 
cook,  who  had  died  in  Akola.  From  the 
school  he  graduated  into  the  workshop,  where 
he  became  an  expert  carpenter,  and  after 
a  time  foreman.  He  continued  his  studies 
after  leaving  school,  and  applied  his  mind  to 
mechanical  engineering.  Three  years  ago  a 
public  examination  on  this  subject,  open  to 
the  Bombay  Presidency,  was  held  in  Bombay. 
Kunwadi  went  up  for  this,  and  out  of  a  class 


66  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

of  over  thirty  he  passed  second,  only  missing 
one  question  in  three  days'  examination.  Six 
high  caste  Brahmins,  who  had  gone  through  a 
Government  Training  College  in  Akola,  went 
up  for  the  same  examination.  They  were 
arrayed  in  fine  silk  garments,  while  Kunwadi 
went  barefoot  and  plainly  dressed.  On  meet- 
ing him,  these  Brahmins  asked  Kunwadi  what 
/le  was  there  for,  and  laughing  at  him  told 
him  he  would  not  pass,  for  what  did  he  know, 
being  a  Christian  ?  On  the  first  day  these  six 
Brahmins  made  a  complete  failure,  while  the 
despised  Christian  went  through  successfully. 

Kunwadi  is  not  only  a  Christian  in  name, 
but  an  earnest  evangelist  in  his  spare  hours  ; 
and  at  the  time  of  writing  is  in  sole  charge  of 
the  workshops  during  Mr  Rogers'  absence  on 
furlough. 

It  is  the  practice  of  the  majority  of  missions 
in  India  to  shape  their  school  work  to  fit  in 
with  the  Government  Education  Code,  place 
the  schools  under  Government  inspection,  and 
thus  obtain  a  grant  in  aid  per  capita  of  children 
passed.  The  Akola  Mission  has  always  been 
an  exception  to  this.  Part  of  the  Government 
revenue  being  raised  by  the  opium  and  liquor 
traffics,  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  from  the  first  felt 
they  could  have  no  complicity  with  these  evils 
by  taking  Government  money.  When  asked 
why  they  refused  a  Government  grant  for  their 
industrial  training  school,  Mr  Fuller  replied : 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  67 

"  A  dying  Scotchman  called  his  sons  around 
him,  and  told  them  what  he  had  to  leave  them, 
and  how  they  should  divide  it  among  them- 
selves. He  then  said  :  *  My  sons,  it  is  not 
much  that  I  have  accumulated  for  you,  but 
remember  this,  there  is  not  a  dirty  shilling 
among  it !  '  There  are  too  many  *  dirty  shil- 
lings '  in  the  revenue  of  the  Government  of  India 
for  me  to  receive  such  money  for  God's  work.  I 
would  not  receive  a  donation  for  our  work  from  a 
liquor  or  opium  seller  ;  and  as  long  as  Govern- 
ment continues  to  be  the  sole  manufacturer 
and  wholesale  dealer  in  opium,  I  will  not 
receive  its  money  for  our  work.  It  is  said  that 
Government  must  have  the  revenue.  When  I 
visit  the  opium  hells,  the  schools  where  men 
are  graduated  into  perdition,  I  say  to  myself, 
*  If  Government  must  destroy  men,  soul  and 
body,  for  revenue,  then  /  will  lessen  the  need  a 
little  by  refusing  the  grant  for  our  school!^  Mr 
and  Mrs  Fuller  were  not  solitary  in  this  prac- 
tical form  of  protest  against  a  giant  wrong, 
but  were  in  a  very  small  minority.  In  mention- 
ing it  here,  it  is  well  to  notice  that  though  it 
was  yet  the  day  of  small  things,  sound  founda- 
tions were  being  laid  for  the  future  to  build 
upon. 

Along  with  the  native  children  taken  by 
Mrs  Fuller  into  the  orphanage  were  some  of 
Eurasian  or  semi-European  parentage.  It  was 
not  possible  to  train  the  two  classes  together, 


68  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

so  a  separate  department  was  opened  for  the 
latter.  Miss  Helen  F.  Dawlly  came  out  from 
America  to  take  charge  of  these  children,  and 
took  them  entirely  out  of  Mrs  Fuller's  hands. 
Some  time  later  the  Anglo-Indian  Orphanage 
was  removed  to  Poona  as  being  a  more  healthy 
place,  with  better  educational  advantages.  Miss 
Dawlly  died  in  1893.  Others  have  built  on 
her  foundation,  and  a  large  and  successful 
work  among  a  most  neglected  class  is  now 
being  carried  on,  still  on  the  same  lines  of 
faith  in  God  for  supplies  by  which  it  was  com- 
menced by  Mrs  Fuller  and  continued  by  Miss 
Dawlly. 

Other  helpers  came  but  they  had  to  get 
acclimatised  and  to  learn  the  language,  and 
still  much  of  the  burden  of  the  work  rested  on 
Mrs  Fuller.  Once  the  care  of  the  orphanage 
was  left  to  her  single-handed,  through  a 
hot  season,  in  which  she  had  been  expecting 
to  get  a  rest  and  change.  Her  co-worker, 
who  should  have  relieved  her  at  this  time,  had 
a  most  tempting  offer  of  a  sojourn  in  the  hills. 
In  the  generosity  of  her  soul  Mrs  Fuller  said 
"  Go."  Though  it  cost  her  some  conflict  she 
felt  that  God  would  have  her  remain  in  Akola. 
Then  Isa.  xl.  29-31  was  made  very  real  to 
her.  Like  a  glad  song  it  fell  upon  her  ears, 
"  They  shall  run  and  not  be  weary,  and  they 
shall  walk  and  not  faint."  She  said  :  "  These 
verses  were  translated  into  my  life  for  that  hot 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  69 

season.  I  arose  in  the  strength  they  gave  me, 
and  went  about  my  work  contentedly,  praying 
that  at  least  a  way  might  be  prepared  for  my 
husband  to  have  his  rest,  knowing  he  would 
not  willingly  leave  me  with  all  the  added  care. 
A  most  unexpected  matter  of  business  called 
him  away  for  a  week,  and  while  gone  a  lovely 
offer  was  made  him  to  remain  with  a  friend 
we  both  loved,  to  study  and  assist  in  a  work 
with  the  educated  classes.  With  much  diffi- 
culty he  was  persuaded  to  do  this.  The  heat 
was  very  great.  The  orphanage  was  not  pro- 
perly finished  ;  we  had  only  one  living  room. 
I  conducted  four  Marathi  services  a  week,  and 
had  all  the  orphanage,  with  its  endless  petty 
cares  to  see  to.  I  studied  with  my  pandit 
one  hour  a  day,  and  nursed  a  sick  child  for 
two  or  three  weeks  night  and  day. 

"  And  yet  I  did  not  mind  the  heat.  It 
often  seemed  as  if  a  shadow  rested  on  the 
house  protecting  me,  and  when  it  was  all  over, 
and  they  all  came  home,  I  could  not  see  but 
that  I  was  as  rested  and  refreshed  as  they.  If 
I  had  only  learned  then  to  abide  in  that 
strength,  how  much  it  might  have  saved  me  ! " 

In  writing  to  her  sister  she  mentions  the 
difficulty  of  getting  support  for  the  uninterest- 
ing children  in  the  orphanage,  and  says  :  "  I 
have  for  some  unexplainable  reason  rebelled  in- 
wardly from  writing  letters  praising  up  a  child 
to    get  money    for  its  support.       How  many 


70  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

children  at  home  do  you  know  that  you  could 
write  a  letter  about  that  would  satisfy  the 
public  demand  ?  I  wish  friends  at  home  loved 
the  Lord  enough  to  be  willing  to  send  money 
labelled  '  For  the  support  of  an  orphan  child 
to  be  trained  for  Christ.'  ...  I  am  afraid  I 
am  sadly  out  of  tune  with  the  way  work  has 
often  had  to  be  done,  that  must  be  stimu- 
lated by  something  interesting  instead  of 
downright  love  to  Christ."  This  love  of  truth 
and  hatred  of  all  shams  was  a  very  pronounced 
feature  in  Mrs  Fuller's  character,  and  showed 
itself  in  a  variety  of  ways. 

While  the  orphanage  claimed  so  much  of 
her  time  and  thought,  her  spirit  was  by  no 
means  in  bondage  to  her  surroundings.  She 
took  the  world  and  its  needs  into  her  horizon 
and  brought  all  in  prayer  before  the  Throne. 
In  the  same  letter  she  writes  :  "  My  heart  has 
been  much  stirred  of  late,  thinking  over 
Afghanistan,  Beloochistan,  and  the  places  of 
the  earth  still  unopen  to  the  Gospel.  I  wish  I 
could  go  to  them  and  lift  up  Christ.  I  believe 
the  day  is  fast  coming  when  God  will  do  the 
work  of  a  thousand  years  in  one  day.  Praise 
His  Name !  We  kept  the  day  of  prayer  for 
missions,  and  it  was  a  very  sweet  time  to  us. 
We  were  much  blessed  in  lifting  up  our  hearts 
for  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  The  earth 
seems  very  little  and  God's  heart  of  love  very 
great,  and  the  plan  of  redemption  so  ample. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  71 

Oh  for  the  time  when  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  shall  fill  the  earth." 

Miss  Carrie  Bates  (now  Mrs  Rogers),  who 
joined  Mrs  Fuller  in  1889,  became  one  of  her 
most  faithful  helpers.  It  was  to  Miss  Bates' 
care  that  Mrs  Fuller  entrusted  the  orphanage 
and  other  work  when  in  the  autumn  of  1890 
she  was  able  to  leave  India  for  a  furlough  to 
the  home  land.  Mrs  Rogers  writes :  "  I  have 
had  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mrs  Fuller 
since  the  beginning  of  1889.  We  have  worked 
together  and  shared  our  joys  and  sorrows.  I 
shall  never  cease  to  thank  God  for  what  she 
has  been  to  me.  Her  many  deeds  of  kindness 
come  often  before  me.  Many  times  have  we 
united  in  prayer  for  the  work  which  always  lay 
so  near  her  heart. 

"During  the  rains  of  1890  the  subject  of 
enlargement  was  laid  heavily  upon  our  hearts, 
and  Mrs  Fuller  proposed  our  meeting  together 
every  night  for  a  week  to  unite  in  special 
prayer  for  more  workers.  There  were  only 
four  of  us  at  the  time,  and  no  human  prospect 
of  any  others  joining  us.  But  the  Lord  was 
talking  with  us,  and  Mrs  Fuller  would  quote 
verse  after  verse  that  He  had  given  her  :  '  En- 
large the  place  of  thy  tent,  and  let  them  stretch 
forth  the  curtains  of  thine  habitations  :  spare 
not,  lengthen  thy  cords,  and  strengthen  thy 
stakes  ;  for  thou  shalt  break  forth  on  the  right 
hand  and  on  the  left ;  and  thy  seed  shall  inherit 


72  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

the  Gentiles,  and  make  the  desolate  cities  to  be 
inhabited,'  Isa.  liv.  2,  3.  'Produce  your  cause, 
saith  the  Lord  ;  bring  forth  your  strong 
reasons ;  saith  the  King  of  Jacob,'  Isa.  xli. 
21.  '  Concerning  the  work  of  My  hands  com- 
mand ye  Me,'  Isa.  xlv.  1 1  ;  and  many  othei 
passages.  That  fall  she  went  to  America  with 
her  two  children,  her  heart  full  of  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  for  the  enlargement  of  the  work. 
She  passed  through  many  testings  and  dark 
places,  but  never  surrendered  her  faith,  and 
God  honoured  her  in  it." 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  WIDENING   SPHERE 

"  With  my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan^  and 
now  I  am  become  two  bands'' 

Almost  every  incident  that  Mrs  Fuller's  own 
pen  has  recorded,  whether  concerning  her  own 
life  or  that  of  others,  has  been  of  soul-deal- 
ing with  God,  answers  to  prayers,  or  lessons 
learned  in  the  school  of  Christ.  Of  her  visit  to 
America  in  1890-92,  a  visit  fraught  with  im- 
portant consequences  to  herself  and  others,  as 
well  as  to  her  field  of  labour  in  India,  she  has 
left  several  such  incidents  on  record. 

I  have  stated  that  Mrs  Fuller  welcomed  hard 
lessons  that  she  might  thereby  be  fitted  to  teach 
others.  She  said  that  "  the  only  way  to  be  able 
to  sow  the  incorruptible  seed  of  the  Word  in 
other  hearts  is  to  first  have  it  made  real  to  our- 
selves in  some  time  of  need."  On  this  voyage 
to  America  some  little  time  was  spent  visiting 
friends  in  Scotland.  It  was  late  autumn,  and 
on  inquiring  for  a  passage  to  America,  Mrs 
Fuller  was  told  by  the  agent  that  the  larger 
steamships  were  crowded  at  that  season,  and 


74  -^  Life  for  God  in  India 

no  berths  obtainable.  She  was  therefore  induced 
to  take  passage  on  a  line  of  which  she  knew 
nothing,  although  assured  by  the  agent  that  it 
was  good  and  safe.  The  friend  she  was  visiting 
had  misgivings  about  the  ship  chosen,  but  gave 
her  as  a  parting  message  :  "  Let  everything  that 
hath  breath  praise  the  Lord."  In  a  cloud  of 
rain  and  mist  Mrs  Fuller  and  her  little  ones 
boarded  the  ship  at  Liverpool.  She  wrote  :  "  A 
more  cheerless  scene  I  had  not  faced  for  many 
a  day.  The  deck  was  wet  and  the  steps  were 
muddy.  I  knew  no  one.  The  second-class 
saloon  was  small  and  badly  lighted,  and  the 
stewards  were  careless.  I  wanted  to  sit  down 
and  cry :  but  I  did  not.  I  saw  no  retreat  out 
of  it,  and  how  I  was  to  endure  until  I  reached 
New  York  I  did  not  know.  Then  there  was 
the  added  bitterness  that  my  friend  was  right, 
and  that  I  had  made  a  mistake. 

"  When  we  had  passed  Queenstown,  the 
wind  increased  and  the  waves  arose.  How 
can  I  describe  the  days  that  followed !  The 
storm  grew  in  violence.  We  were  ten  days 
getting  to  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.  Ropes 
had  to  be  stretched  for  the  stewards  and 
men  to  hold  as  they  walked  about.  The  officers 
said  they  had  not  encountered  such  a  storm  in 
ten  years.  I  could  not  stand,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  lie  in  my  berth  day  after  day. 
The  food  was  poor,  and  I  could  not  eat.     Every 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  75 

few  minutes  a  great  wave  would  crash  against 
the  bow  of  the  ship,  break  over  the  deck,  and 
come  down  the  companion-way,  and  slush  up 
past  my  cabin  door. 

"  How  often  the  vision  of  my  friend  at  the 
carriage  window  saying,  *  Let  everything  that 
hath  breath  praise  the  Lord,'  came  up  before 
me,  and  I  was  enabled  to  praise  Him.  But 
the  Word  that  held  me  was  :  '  God  is  faithful, 
who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above 
that  ye  are  able ;  but  will  with  the  temptation 
make  also  the  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  endure  it'  (i  Cor.  x.  13,  R.V.).  Over 
and  over  did  it  seem  as  if  I  could  never  endure 
it.  And  God  would  reply  :  '  Ye  shall  not  be 
tempted  above  what  ye  are  able  to  bear.'  And 
somehow  I  came  to  know  that  I  should  not  be. 
In  every  deep  trial  since,  I  know  that  it  will 
not  be  above  what  I  am  able  to  bear,  and  that 
God  will  prepare  a  way  to  escape. 

"  When  we  reached  the  banks,  and  had  out- 
ridden the  storm,  and  had  glided  into  smooth 
waters,  how  sweetly  the  words  came  to  me :  '  He 
maketh  the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves 
thereof  are  still.  Then  are  they  glad  because 
they  be  quiet'  (Psalm  cvii.  29,  30).  Four  days 
more  and  we  were  anchored  in  New  York. 

"  But  so  deep  was  the  submission  that  God 
wrought  in  my  heart  to  His  will  in  my  circum- 
stances in  that  never-to-be-forgotten  voyage,that 


76  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

I  felt  I  could  go  right  back  the  same  way  if  He 
had  asked  me. 

"  How  painful  it  is  to  hear  God's  children  say : 
*  I  will  not  bear  this/  or  '  I  will  not  have  it  so,' 
and  make  their  own  way  of  escape  out  of  trial 
or  difficulty.  They  thus  lose  the  discipline,  and 
often  involve  themselves  in  greater  difficulties." 

A  few  months  after  their  arrival  in  America 
another  little  daughter  was  born,  and  Mr  Fuller 
arrived  to  join  them  in  the  home  land.  Mrs 
Fuller  took  a  cottage  at  North  Chili,  in  New 
York  State,  and  the  family  lived  in  the  simplest 
manner,  she  performing  all  her  domestic  duties, 
and  taking  every  opportunity  to  speak  and  write 
for  India  and  its  needs.  Especially  was  she 
used  among  the  students  at  the  Free  Methodist 
College  at  North  Chili,  under  the  care  of  Pro- 
fessor and  Mrs  Roberts.  At  conventions  and 
camp  meetings  deep  impressions  were  created. 

Mrs  Fuller  was  always  self-denying  in  her 
dress.  At  one  time  in  India  there  was  con- 
siderable discussion  as  to  whether  the  adoption 
of  native  dress  by  missionaries  would  or  would 
not  help  them  to  get  more  in  touch  with  the 
people,  but  Mrs  Fuller  thought  it  much  more 
of  a  cross  to  dress  like  a  poor  European  than 
to  use  the  native  dress.  For  missionaries  to 
wear  native  costume  did  not  commend  itself  to 
her  mind  and  experience,  although  she  sympa- 
thised with  the  motive. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  77 

Her  simple  dress  was  of  course  hopelessly 
out  of  fashion  in  America.  The  hat  she  was 
wearing,  which  passed  well  enough  in  India, 
caused  a  good  deal  of  comment  among  her 
friends.  Several  times  she  essayed  to  buy  a 
new  one,  but  the  hats  seemed  so  fantastic  and 
worldly  she  had  no  heart  to  buy.  At  one  of 
the  conventions  a  lady  offered  to  accompany 
her  to  a  shop  and  buy  her  a  bonnet.  "  Some- 
thing," she  said,  "  restrained  me  that  I  had  no 
liberty  to  go  with  her,  though  I  could  give  no 
reason.  Gradually  the  picture  of  a  neat  brown 
straw  bonnet  formed  itself  in  my  mind,  and  I 
often  wished  I  might  find  one  like  it.  After 
the  convention  we  settled  for  the  winter  in  a 
little  village  near  a  large  city  in  Western  New 
York.  It  was  but  a  short  ride  into  this  city, 
where  we  did  all  our  shopping.  Soon  after 
this  a  friend  and  I  spent  a  busy  day  shop- 
ping, and  just  at  the  close  she  said  :  *I  have 
had  five  dollars  given  me  to  get  you  a  bonnet, 
come  and  let  us  see  about  it'  Again  I  felt 
the  same  shrinking  and  said  :  '  It  is  too  late,  it 
is  near  train  time  ;  we  will  attend  to  it  another 
day,'  and  as  I  spoke,  my  thought  of  a  brown 
bonnet  came  again  to  me  and  I  timidly  added, 
'  I  would  like  a  brown  straw  bonnet.'  My 
friend  laughed  and  said,  *  It  is  too  late  now  to 
get  a  straw  bonnet.  They  are  all  out  of 
season.' 


78  A   Life  for  God  in  India 

"  On  reaching  home  I  found  some  letters  on 
my  table.  In  one  of  them  was  this  paragraph  : 
'  We  are  sending  what  you  left  here,  and  in 
the  box  we  have  put  a  brown  straw  bonnet, 
which  Mrs  R has  sent  you.' 

"  When  the  box  came  we  opened  it  with 
great  eagerness.  There  lay  the  bonnet.  It 
was  very  pretty  and  a  perfect  realisation  of  the 
picture  I  had  had.  Never  before  or  since  have  I 
had  such  comfort  in  a  bonnet.  It  was  the  Lord's 
choice  and  provision  for  me.  But  above  all  was 
the  precious  lesson  of  His  care  and  thought. 
Ever  since,  I  have  known  in  a  deeper  sense  that 
our  Heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  we  have 
need  of  all  these  things,  and  that  if  we  seek 
His  kingdom  first  that  He  does  add  these 
things." 

Since  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  were  in  America 
before,  the  Christian  Alliance  had  been  formed 
under  the  leadership  of  Mr  A.  B.  Simpson,  of 
New  York,  and  had  commenced  to  create  a 
strong  missionary  spirit  among  those  who 
were  attracted  to  its  teaching.  The  watchword 
of  the  Alliance  was  the  fourfold  Gospel  as 
indicated  by  the  following  motto : 

*' Jesus  as  Saviour,  Sanctifier,  Healer, 
AND  Coming  King." 

Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  attended  the  conven- 
tions of  the  Alliance  and  came  in  contact  with 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  79 

its  leaders.  Before  long  the  answer  to  their 
prayers  for  enlargement  seemed  to  loom  in  sight. 
From  the  ranks  of  the  Alliance,  a  band  of 
missionary  volunteers  was  called  forth.  Here 
were  reinforcements  for  Berar,  waiting  a 
leader.  Here  were  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller, 
trained  and  experienced  missionaries,  ready  to 
welcome  them  and  capable  of  leading  them 
out  and  placing  them  in  needy  fields  ripe  for 
labourers,  long  prayed  for. 

Mrs  Carrie  Bates  Rogers,  writing  of  how  the 
Lord  raised  up  this  large  company  of  conse- 
crated workers,  says  :  "  I  have  often  thought  of 
Jacob's  saying,  *  For  with  my  staff  I  passed  over 
this  Jordan,  and  now  I  am  become  two  bands ' 
(Gen.  xxxii.  10).  When  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller 
came  out  before,  just  one  friend  went  to  the 
steamer  to  see  them  off.  They  had  one  trunk 
and  a  satchel  between  them,  and  were  obliged 
to  stop  in  England  till  the  Lord  sent  them 
more  money  to  go  on  with.  When  they  came 
out  in  the  autumn  of  1892  they  had  literally 
become  two  bands  ;  Mrs  Fuller  leaving  a 
month  before  her  husband  with  seven  new 
missionaries  (five  ladies  and  a  married  couple, 
Mr  and  Mrs  Ramsey),  and  Mr  Fuller  coming 
on  later  with  another  married  couple  and  a 
contingent  of  young  men." 

Evidently  this  new  responsibility  was  not 
accepted  without  much  prayer  and  seeking  to 


8o  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

know  the  mind  of  the  Lord  with  regard  to  it. 
Mrs  Fuller  wrote  concerning  this  period  in 
America : 

"  God  often  has  to  repeat  our  lessons. 
After  I  had  known  rest  of  heart  for  a  long 
time,  and  had  proclaimed  it  to  many,  I  came 
to  circumstances  where  I  had  to  make  an 
important  decision  wherein  the  welfare  of 
others  depended  upon  what  I  chose.  All  un- 
consciously I  began  bearing  the  burden  of  the 
responsibility.  I  grew  troubled  and  took  up 
the  old  habit  of  sighing  as  I  went  about  my 
work.  It  was  a  time  when  summer  was 
merging  into  autumn,  and  the  weather  was 
often  chill.  I  noticed  as  I  took  Baby  Jean  out 
that  her  cap  was  thin,  and  I  would  resolve  to 
put  a  lining  in  it.  But  the  resolve  would  be 
soon  forgotten  as  other  perplexities  pressed  in 
upon  me. 

"  At  last  God  spoke  to  my  heart.  One 
morning  I  awoke  as  usual  troubled  and  under 
a  cloud.  I  went  down  to  the  breakfast  table 
saying,  '  Oh,  if  I  only  knew  what  God  wanted,' 
and  hoping  that  the  morning  mail  would  bring 
me  some  token  of  His  will. 

"  The  mail  came  but  there  was  nothing  for 
me  but  a  newspaper.  With  a  feeling  of  dis- 
appointment I  opened  it  carelessly,  when  lo, 
from  the  inside  of  the  newspaper  fell  two  soft, 
wadded,  China  silk  baby  cap-linings !     What  a 


A  Life  for  God  in  Ind 


la 


halt  there  was  in  my  soul !  I  stood  like  one 
God  had  rebuked.  The  rebuke  was  very  real. 
God  seemed  to  say,  '  Why  are  you  so  troubled  ? 
If  I,  with  the  government  of  worlds  upon  my 
shoulders,  can  remember  that  your  baby's  cap 
needs  a  lining  and  can  provide  for  it,  can  you 
not  trust  Me  with  your  affairs  ?  '  How  quickly 
I  rolled  the  government  upon  His  shoulders, 
and  He  did  decide  most  wonderfully  for  us." 

An  incident  must  be  related  here  which  had 
an  influence  in  God's  ordering  in  calling  some 
of  these  new  missionaries  into  the  field — a  life 
sacrifice  that  bore  much  fruit.  When  Mr 
Fuller  left  Akola,  an  earnest  young  missionary 
from  Ellichpur,  Louisa  Ranf,  joined  Miss  Bates  at 
Akola  to  assist  in  the  work  for  a  few  months. 
Like  others  of  these  pioneer  missionaries  she 
also  was  much  burdened  in  soul  on  account 
of  the  unevangelised  country  all  about.  Miss 
Ranf  took  charge  of  the  boys  in  the  orphanage 
and  was  a  fountain  of  strength  to  the  work. 
In  November,  1891,  she  returned  to  Ellichpur 
on  a  short  visit.  On  a  Sunday  afternoon 
she  told  her  missionary  friend  at  Ellichpur 
that  she  felt  God  had  some  great  purpose  in 
store  for  her,  possibly  to  go  to  America  and 
rouse  missionary  interest  in  the  home  churches 
for  the  great  needs  of  India.  When  in  prayer 
together  a  little  later,  she  cast  herself  on  the 
Lord  in    full    consecration   to  fulfil    His  will, 

F 


82  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

whatever  it  might  cost  her.  That  night  she 
with  the  other  missionaries  at  the  station  went 
to  the  English  church  at  Ellichpur  to  attend 
the  evening  service.  She  knelt  down  and 
rising  knocked  her  head  against  an  oil  lamp 
which  fell  and  speedily  ignited  her  thin  dress. 
She  was  sadly  burnt  and  died  before  midnight  in 
spite  of  all  that  could  be  done.  "Ah,"  she  said,  as 
she  lay  dying,  "  I  know  now  what  my  prayer  this 
afternoon  meant"  She  realised  that  God  had 
accepted  the  sacrifice  and  was  taking  her  to 
Himself  She  did  not  go  to  America  to  call 
out  a  band  of  workers,  but  the  story  of  her 
consecrated  life  and  almost  martyr  death  did 
go,  and  was  used  to  stir  the  fire  of  consecration 
in  many  hearts.  I  have  myself  met  with  several 
who  said  it  was  her  death  which  led  them  to 
offer  for  India.  Among  them  was  one  young 
man  in  the  contingent  that  came  out  with  Mr 
Fuller  at  this  time. 

Meetings  to  welcome  these  liberal  reinforce- 
ments for  the  mission  field  were  held  in 
Bombay.  Their  advent  seemed  to  bring  a 
breath  of  fresh  life  into  Christian  circles  in 
that  city  where  they  tarried  for  a  few  days 
before  proceeding  to  Akola.  Mrs  Fuller 
especially  seemed  to  have  received  a  fresh 
inflow  of  spiritual  life.  At  the  service  at 
the  Grant  Road  Church  on  the  Sabbath 
evening    after     her     arrival,    she     told     some 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  S^ 

of  the  experiences  into  which  she  had  been 
led.  She  said  she  had  been  for  some  time 
in  an  unsatisfied  condition,  longing  for  an  ex- 
perience of  holiness  to  which  others  testified, 
but  which  she  seemed  unable  to  grasp.  While 
in  this  condition  the  words,  "  Christ  in  you,  the 
hope  of  glory,"  were  brought  with  great  power 
to  her  soul.  She  saw  then  fully  that  Christ 
must  sanctify  as  well  as  save,  and  that  the 
power  of  an  indwelling  Christ  was  a  grand 
thing  to  preach  to  the  heathen.  She  felt  that 
what  the  Lord  wanted  of  His  people  was  that 
they  should  let  everything  go,  swing  loose,  go 
into  bankruptcy  of  all  their  own  strivings  and 
efforts,  and  let  the  Lord  Jesus  take  entire 
possession,  speak  through  them,  work  through 
them  and  love  sinners  through  them. 

The  same  thought  more  amplified  is  found 
among  her  writings  :  "  I  was  with  some  kind 
friends  who  were  wholly  given  up  to  the  Lord. 
During  all  my  stay  with  them  they  never 
seemed  to  weary  in  ministering  to  me  that  I 
might  have  rest  and  comfort.  I  saw  that  I 
shrank  from  the  sacrifice  that  they  made  to 
do  it,  and  looking  up  queried  :  *  Lord,  if  it  is 
right  that  they  should  do  this,  why  do  I  shrink 
from  it  ? ' 

"  The  answer  seemed  to  come  back  :  '  Child, 
you  are  wrong.  You  have  your  eye  on  them 
and  the  sacrifice.      These  dear  ones  are  wholly 


84  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Mine.  I  can  do  through  them  what  I  please. 
It  has  been  I  caring  for  you  through  them.' 
I  was  filled  with  praise.  I  saw  the  possibili- 
ties of  *  Christ  in  you '  as  I  had  never  done 
before.  It  was  not  our  imitating  Jesus.  It 
was  not  trying  to  reproduce  the  life  of  Jesus  ; 
but  it  was  our  being  an  empty  surrendered 
temple  for  Jesus  to  dwell  in,  to  repeat  His  own 
life  in  us. 

"  Our  part  is  to  keep  the  channels  open 
and  unobstructed.  I  saw  how  He  would  love 
sinners  through  us,  and  draw  us  out  after 
them ;  how  He  would  minister  to  them 
through  us,  and  how  He  would  pray  through 
us.  After  that  it  was  no  longer  the  cry  of 
my  heart,  '  Lord,  help  me  to  do  this  or  that ; ' 

*  Lord,  help  me  to  speak  ; '  and, '  How  can  I  do 
that  ?  '     But  as  I  met  each  emergency,  it  was, 

*  Lord,  do  this  through  me  ; '  or,  '  Lord,  speak 
through  me  now,'  and  as  I  went  to  prayer  I 
would  abandon  myself  to  Him  to  give  the 
petition. 

"  I  found,  too,  that  Christ's  presence  in  me 
often  spoke  to  others  without  a  word  from 
me.  Oh !  the  possibilities  of  such  an  aban- 
doned life  to  God  !  Some  of  us  have  sweet 
happy  flashes  of  this  life,  and  how  like  a  bit 
of  heaven  it  is !  Some  of  us  see  it,  yet  do 
not  break  away  from  old  habits  of  thought 
about   our  being   a  wonderful   Christian,  and 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  85 

that  God  is  going  to  help  us  do  a  great 
work.  And  so  God  can  only  work  through 
us  in  a  limited  way.  Yet  His  thought  for 
us  is  that   His  life  in  us  may  be  an  abiding 


CHAPTER  VII 

EXTENSION    AND    LANGUAGE    DIFFICULTIES 

"  Not  by  power ^  nor  by  might,  but  by  My  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord^ 

In  accepting  the  position  of  Superintendents  of 
the  Alliance  Mission  in  India,  Mr  and  Mrs 
Fuller  changed  the  method,  though  not  the 
principle,  of  their  life  of  faith.  By  the  experi- 
ence of  the  previous  years  they  had  proved 
that  God  could  provide  a  table  in  the  wilder- 
ness for  those  called  to  depend  entirely  on 
Him  ;  and  the  basis  arranged  for  the  support 
of  the  Alliance  missionaries  commended  itself 
to  their  experience  and  judgment,  as  a  prac- 
tical method  of  conducting  a  large  work  on  the 
faith  principle.  No  salaries  were  guaranteed 
to  the  workers,  but  a  maintenance  allowance 
was  fixed,  to  be  sent  out  monthly  as  supplies 
came  in  to  the  mission  treasury  in  New  York. 
When  less  than  the  full  amount  was  in  hand, 
allowances  were  to  be  paid  in  proportion. 
Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  took  no  larger  allowances 
than  the  most  inexperienced  recruit  of  the 
mission,  and  whenever  there  was  shortage  all 

shared  alike. 

87 


88  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Other  detachments  of  new  workers  followed 
those  who  came  out  with  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller, 
till,  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  the  numbers 
swelled  to  fifty  or  sixty.^  Then  the  visions 
of  past  years  began  to  become  realities. 
Stations  were  opened  in  populous  parts  of 
Berar,  in  centres  for  which  workers  had  long 
been  prayed  for,  and  also  in  the  adjoining 
territory  of  Khandeish,  where  the  language 
spoken  was  also  Marathi. 

Parallel  with  this  gratifying  increase,  a  similar 
extension  came  to  the  work  at  Ellichpur  and 
the  hill  district  beyond.  After  fifteen  years  of 
hard,  self-denying  labour  among  the  Kurkus 
(whose  language  he  reduced  to  writing)  Albert 
Norton  2  was  invalided  home  to  America  in 
1889.  On  his  way  thither  he  arranged  for  a 
new  missionary  agency  in  connection  with 
Mrs  Baxter's  work  at  Bethshan,  London,  to 
take  over  his  field  of  labour.  Its  early  mis- 
sionaries were  received  and  initiated  by  Mrs 
Norton.  After  she  joined  her  husband  in 
America,  Mr  and  Mrs  Ernest  F.  Ward  ^  (who 
had  succeeded  the  Sibleys  at  Ellichpur)  con- 
tinued to  help  the  new  arrivals  to  settle  in. 
But  later,  as  those  sent  out  from  England  in- 
creased in  numbers  and  became  acclimatised, 

^  In  December,  1902,  there  were  fifty-four  missionaries  on  the 
field  in  nineteen  stations,  and  eighteen  at  home  on  furlough. 

2  Now  of  the  Boys'  Christian  Home,  Dhond,  Poona  District. 

^  Working  at  present  with  "Vanguard  Mission,"  Sanjan, 
Gujarat. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  89 

Mr  and  Mrs  Ward  left  them  in  possession  of 
the  whole  district,  with  Ellichpur  as  head- 
quarters. This  mission  is  now  well  established 
and  is  known  as  "  The  Kurku  and  Central 
Indian  Hill  Mission."  Thus  while  workers 
from  America  were  rapidly  filling  one  part  of 
the  province  of  Berar,  English  Christians 
undertook  the  task  of  evangelising  the  other 
part. 

"  It  is  a  marvel  to  me,  Brother  Fuller,"  said 
another  experienced  missionary  whom  he  met 
in  Bombay, "  that  you  have  been  able  to  locate 
your  men  so  quickly  in  all  these  places.  We 
always  find  it  most  difficult  to  get  a  footing 
in  a  new  place  in  our  district,  and  when  we 
do  get  the  prospect  of  a  house  or  a  piece  of 
land,  the  negotiations  go  on  for  months  before 
we  can  come  to  any  definite  arrangement  with 
these  slippery  land-owners.  How  have  you 
done  it  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Mr  Fuller,  "  except 
that  we  make  every  step  a  matter  of  prayer, 
and  the  Lord  Himself  goes  before  and  opens 
doors." 

When  the  needs  of  Berar  were  fairly  pro- 
vided for,  Mr  Fuller  prospected  in  Gujarat, 
of  which  a  large  unmissioned  district  was 
opened  up,  and  one  which  proved  most  fruitful 
and  interesting  as  the  birth-place  of  souls. 
Success  came  earlier  than  on  the  Marathi  field, 
the  people  seemed  easier  to  reach. 


90  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

In  all  the  continuous  labour  and  planning 
which  this  work  entailed,  Mrs  Fuller  took  her 
full  share.  If  she  was  found  resting  in  the  hot 
weather,  it  was  usually  in  a  small  house  at 
Igatpuri,  with  a  colony  of  young  missionaries 
round  her  whom  she  was  coaching  in  Marathi. 
Over  and  over  again  have  I  heard  those  whom 
she  taught  express  their  indebtedness  to  her 
for  their  proficiency  in  the  language,  the  men 
as  well  as  the  women  sharing  her  tuition. 

Marathi  is  a  beautiful  and  expressive 
language,  but  is  also  correspondingly  difficult 
to  acquire.  A  graphic  account  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  its  study  was  written  by  one  of  the 
ladies  of  the  Alliance  Mission,  who  was  highly 
educated,  having  occupied  a  good  position  in 
a  woman's  college  in  America  before  offering 
herself  for  mission  work  in  India.  This  lady, 
Miss  M.  Olmstead,  said,  "  The  language  taxes 
the  memory  severely.  After  you  have  learned 
sixteen  vowels  and  forty-eight  consonants, 
you  may  be  pardoned  for  supposing  that  you 
have  the  Marathi  alphabet ;  but  this  is  a  vain 
hope.  There  are  yet  twelve  vowel  abbrevia- 
tions and  1 3  i  principal  compound  consonants. 
It  is  an  encouragement  to  know  that  these  207 
characters  make  Marathi  spelling  very  simple. 

"  Even  to  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  German 
scholar,  Marathi  inflections  bring  surprise. 
The  noun  has  eight  cases,  the  verb  has  four 
different  methods  of  agreement,  and  seventeen, 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  91 

yes  seventeen  tenses,  besides  numerous  verbal 
compounds. 

"  Marathi  idioms  are  not  only  numerous, 
but  often  difficult  to  understand.  The  expres- 
sion, '  having  drunk  the  milk,  throw  it  away,' 
means,  *  drink  the  milk  all  up.'  *  I  sat  watch- 
ing his  way,'  is,  *  I  sat  waiting  for  him.' 
'Making  thought  comes  to  my  soul,'  is  the 
Marathi  way  of  saying,  '  I  can  think.'  When 
you  have  learned  to  say  '  goose '  and  always 
think  '  rat,'  to  use  '  mice  '  for  female  buffalo, 
and  '  dude '  for  milk,  you  are  making  progress, 
but  more  than  that  is  required.  Your  previous 
notions  of  grammar  must  be  sacrificed.  You 
must  sometimes  view  the  instrument  as  the 
subject  of  the  verb,  and  learn  to  say  *  By  God 
made  created  the  world,'  and  '  God  makes 
love  on  me.'  ...  To  learn  Marathi  easily,  one 
needs  to  be  simple,  childlike,  teachable.  One 
needs  the  humility  that  is  willing  to  learn 
from  anyone  ;  the  unconsciousness  of  self  that 
can  make  blunders  and  be  corrected.  This  is 
the  spirit  so  needful  in  entering  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  receiving  the  life  more  abundant. 
The  study  of  Marathi  is  an  admirable  training 
school  for  missionary  labour." 

It  is  not  easy  to  realise  the  difficulties  that 
beset  the  path  of  the  foreign  missionary  with 
such  a  language  to  face  ;  and  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  people's  conceptions  of 
God,  of  sin,  the  hereafter,  etc.,  are  so  different 


92  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

from  ours,  the  task  of  enlightening  their  minds 
would  seem  overwhelming  but  for  the  enablings 
of  God's  Holy  Spirit.  To  encourage  her 
pupils  Mrs  Fuller  told  of  a  crisis  in  her  experi- 
ence when  she  was  abundantly  helped  to  make 
her  message  clear.      She  said  : 

"  In  trying  to  lead  our  Christian  people  up 
to  a  full  consecration,  I  saw  that  with  all  I  said, 
they  got  no  idea  of  a  complete  surrender  to  the 
will  of  God.  One  Saturday  I  was  much 
burdened  about  it.  I  said  to  myself,  '  Perhaps 
I  do  not  use  the  correct  Marathi  words  to 
express  my  thoughts.'  I  then  prayed  that  I 
might  be  led  to  use  the  right  words.  The 
next  morning,  after  an  unusually  good  Sunday 
school,  my  husband  announced  that  we  would 
meet  all  who  stayed  for  prayer.  A  number 
stayed,  and  as  we  knelt  in  prayer  they  began 
asking  for  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  felt  they  did 
not  understand  the  very  first  step  of  separation 
and  surrender.  For  a  moment  the  old  despair 
seized  me,  over  the  meagreness  of  my  Marathi, 
but  looking  up  to  God,  I  broke  in  with  the 
following  question,  '  What  is  the  difference 
between  a  slave  and  a  servant  ?  '  There  were 
various  answers,  but  the  sum  of  it  was,  that  a 
servant  could  remain  in  service  or  not,  as  he 
chose ;  but  a  slave  was  not  supposed  to  have 
any  will  but  his  master's. 

"  What  was  said  was  simple  enough,  and 
but  few  words  used,  but  the  Spirit  took   the 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  93 

thought  and  multiplied  it  in  their  minds 
marvellously.  One  young  man  broke  out  in 
prayer,  '  Lord,  I've  been  Thy  servant  up  to  this 
time  ;  I  am  Thy  slave  henceforward.'  A 
woman  cried  out, '  Lord,  give  me  the  seal  of  my 
slave-ship,  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Another  woman 
said  in  prayer,  *  I've  been  a  Christian  a  good 
many  years,  but  I  have  never  understood  like 
this.'  Then  she  followed  this  with  a  confession 
to  another  sister  that  her  husband  had  stolen 
from  her  and  she  had  covered  it  up.  Two, 
who  had  not  been  speaking  to  one  another, 
became  reconciled.  Some  one  then  prayed  in 
the  language  of  the  beautiful  figure  of  the 
slave  letting  his  master  pierce  his  ear  to  the 
doorpost,  '  that  we  might  go  out  of  the  Lord's 
House  no  more  for  ever.' 

"  It  was  a  wonderful  meeting.  Then  the  feed- 
ing of  the  five  thousand  was  unfolded  to  me 
— Jesus  bids  us  give  this  people  to  eat.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  language  is  limited,  is  like 
the  five  barley  loaves  and  two  fishes.  Oh  how 
we  have  been  made  to  feel  our  insufiliciency 
before  this  great  multitude  !  But  the  Holy 
Ghost  can  take  our  words,  and  multiply  and 
teach  their  meaning  to  those  to  whom  we  talk, 
and  carry  it  beyond  our  expectation  in  results. 
Our  sufficiency  is  of  God." 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE    BURDEN    OF    THE    LORD :    "  MORE 
PRAYER    FOR    MISSIONS" 

"  Always  bearing  about  in  the  body  the  dying  of 
the  Lord  Jesus^  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus 
might  be  manifest  in  our  body!' 

It  will  be  gathered  by  those  who  have 
followed  the  narrative  thus  far,  that  prayer  was 
indeed  Mrs  Fuller's  "vital  breath."  She 
prayed  at  all  times,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances, and  watched  and  waited  for  the 
answers.  She  learned  something  of  the  value 
of  prayer  from  Mr  Finney,  whose  lecture  on 
"  prevailing  prayer "  was  a  trumpet  call  to 
the  Church  in  his  day.  She  found  another 
example  in  one  of  her  friends  in  America, 
already  referred  to,  a  woman  in  humble  life, 
whom  she  spoke  and  wrote  of,  as  her  "  praying 
friend,  Mary  Ann."  This  woman  lived  a  life  of 
constant  intercession,  and  knew  God  as  few  of 
His  servants  do. 

But  it  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  journey  to 
America  in  1894  that  the  importance  of  more 

prayer  for  missions  was  deeply  impressed  on 

95 


g6  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Mrs  Fuller's  heart,  and  focussed  itself  in  a 
definite  appeal  to  the  Christians  with  whom 
she  met  in  conventions  and  camp  meetings. 
The  object  of  her  journey  was  some  necessary- 
consultation  with  the  Board  of  the  Alliance. 
Mrs  Fuller  was  only  absent  from  India  for  a 
few  months,  returning  in  the  autumn  with 
reinforcements  for  the  Mission.  In  speaking 
about  her  journey  on  her  return,  she  said  she 
had  not  gone  weighted  with  any  concern  to 
speak  in  public,  nor  with  any  burden  of  appeal 
for  men  or  money.  But  looking  to  the  LORD 
for  guidance,  she  had  been  led  out  into  work, 
and  everywhere,  and  at  all  times,  she  was 
led  to  impress  upon  her  hearers  the  great 
and  universal  need  of  MORE  PRAYER  FOR 
MISSIONS. 

As  she  visited  her  old  haunts  in  Northern 
Ohio,  and  stood  by  the  grave  of  the  sainted 
Finney,  the  same  yearning  desire  filled  her 
soul  that  the  old  time  spirit  of  prevailing 
prayer  might  be  revived.  Addressing  a  con- 
vention of  the  Christian  Alliance,  she  told  her 
hearers  :  "  God  wants  the  prayer  that  reaches 
up  to  heaven,  and  brings  the  blessing  down  to 
earth.  God  wants  you  not  to  let  go  till  the 
work  is  done.  Some  day  you  will  find  that 
God  will  charge  the  death  of  some  missionary 
and  the  small  success  of  many  a  work  to  His 
people  at  home.  Remember  our  missionaries 
are  young  and  inexperienced.     They  have  the 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  97 

difficulties  of  acquiring  the  language,  a  vitiated 
moral  atmosphere,  and  the  power  of  Satan  to 
contend  with.  May  God  lay  upon  your  hearts 
the  necessity  of  upholding  them  with  your 
prayers."  This  earnest  advocacy  bore  fruit  in 
after  years,  and  is  still  going  on  to  bear  fruit.^ 
During  this  short  furlough,  Mrs  Fuller  received 
the  most  marked  infilling  of  the  Spirit  that 
she  had  ever  known,  and  from  that  time  was 
more  used  of  God  than  ever  before. 

Another  point  upon  which  Mrs  Fuller's 
mind  was  much  burdened  at  this  time,  and 
indeed  to  the  close  of  her  life,  was  the  condi- 
tion and  possibilities  of  the  Indian  Christian 
Church.  Speaking  and  writing  on  the  necessity 
of  prayer,  Mrs  Fuller  said  : 

"  Pray  that  God  will  thrust  forth  native 
labourers  into  the  field.  I  feel  this  to  be  a 
deeper  need  than  more  European  helpers. 
When  I  remember  the  history  of  this  work  in 
India,  how  it  was  founded  in  prayer,  how  two 
godly  servants  of  Christ  visited  Ellichpur  in 
this  province,  and,  seeing  its  destitution,  they 
spent  New  Year's  day  in  prayer  that  God 
would  thrust  forth  labourers  into  this  field,  and 
now  He  has  called  us  all  from  all  over  the 
world — we  represent  seven  different  nationali- 
ties —  and  brought  us  here  ;  I  am  deeply 
moved.  When  those  friends  prayed,  many  of 
us  were  unconverted.     So  I  am  moved  to  pray 

^  See  Letters,  etc.  in  Appendix. 
G 


98  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

for  God  to  thrust  forth  an  army  of  native 
helpers  with  us,  many  of  whom  are  possibly 
now  unconverted,  but  our  God  is  able.  The 
limitations  to  a  missionary,  of  climate,  of 
language,  in  being  a  foreigner,  are  great.  One 
of  their  own  people,  baptised  with  the  Spirit, 
must  have  greater  possibilities  than  we.  Pray 
that  God  will  pour  out  His  Spirit  on  the 
people,  and  that  many  may  be  prepared  for 
His  coming." 

How  Mrs  Fuller  longed  and  prayed  for  the 
deepening  of  spiritual  life  among  the  Indian 
Christians  !  ^  She  never  missed  an  opportunity 
of  influencing  them,  either  as  individuals  or 
as  a  community.  When,  in  1895,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Alliance  Mission  in  India  were 
removed  to  Bombay,  and  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller 
took  up  their  residence  in  that  city,  Indian 
Christians  were  continually  flocking  to  her  for 
advice  and  sympathy.  They  were  always 
welcome  to  all  the  meetings  at  "  Berachah  "  (as 
the  Home  in  Bombay  is  called),  whether  held 
in  English   or   Marathi,  and  many  lives  were 

^  This  burden  of  prayer  for  Spirit  baptised  Christians  to  go 
forth  as  evangeUsts  to  their  own  people  was  taken  up  by 
others.  May  not  the  precious  ingathering  of  souls  which 
followed  the  rescue  of  famine  waifs  be  in  part  the  answer  to 
these  prayers  ?  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways.  In  judgment 
He  sends  pestilence  and  famine,  but  at  the  same  time  makes 
the  affliction  bear  precious  fruit  to  His  glory.  Twenty-five 
thousand  waif  children  and  widows  were  gathered  in  by 
missionaries  and  others  during  the  famines  of  1897 -1 900.  The 
Gospel  has  had  free  course  among  these,  and  many  are  already 
going  forth  to  tell  the  good  news  of  Salvation. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  99 

brightened,  and  homes  transformed,  through 
her  tender  sympathy  and  loving  counsel. 

Here  in  Bombay  Mrs  Fuller's  life  was,  if 
possible,  more  busy  than  ever.  Their  large 
house  was  continually  filled  with  missionaries 
coming  and  going,  besides  several  always  in 
residence,  studying  the  language,  and  carrying 
on  work  in  the  city. 

It  may  have  occurred  to  some  that  the 
Alliance  was  not  needed  in  Bombay,  where 
several  large  and  important  missionary  societies 
had  been  established  for  many  years.  But  it 
has  been  felt  that  God  had  a  purpose  in  send- 
ing these  new  missionaries  into  the  city  at  that 
time.  Their  immediate  reason  for  taking  a 
house  in  Bombay  was  the  necessity  of  central 
headquarters  ;  Bombay  being  conveniently  situ- 
ated between  Berar  and  Gujarat,  Mr  and  Mrs 
Fuller  could  more  efficiently  conduct  the  affairs 
of  the  Mission,  and  journey  quickly  to  either 
place  as  needed. 

Most  of  the  missions  already  in  the  city  had 
large  educational  work  on  their  hands,  and 
comparatively  little  attention  was  given  to 
aggressive  evangelistic  effort.  After  mission- 
aries had  laboured  in  the  city  for  seventy-five 
years,  statistics  showed  that  (in  1888)  there 
were  less  than  one  thousand  Protestant  Indian 
Christians,    including    children.^       This    in    a 

^  Vide  paper  read  before  the  Bombay  Missionary  Conference, 
September  1888,  by  Mr  Dhanjibhai  Naoriji,  the  senior  Indian 
minister  in  the  city. 


loo  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

populace  of  800,000,  Bombay  at  that  time 
claiming  the  position  of  the  second  city  in  the 
British  empire  as  to  population. 

Bombay  has  always  been  looked  upon  as  a 
hard  field,  and  the  Alliance,  as  well  as  other 
missions,  found  it  so.  On  settling  in  the  city, 
Mr  Fuller  at  once  organised  a  campaign  of  open 
air  preaching.  Every  afternoon  in  the  week, 
save  Saturday,  as  soon  as  the  heat  of  the  sun 
cooled  off,  a  party  of  men  and  women  from  the 
Alliance  Home  sallied  forth  to  proclaim  the 
Gospel,  often  joined  by  missionaries  and  lay 
Christians  of  various  denominations.  On  Sun- 
days they  spoke  in  English  to  the  crowds  who 
frequented  the  seashore.  On  most  other  even- 
ings they  took  up  their  stand  in  prominent 
places,  where  busy  multitudes  thronged  the 
streets,  and  preached  in  the  vernaculars. 

This  went  on  for  about  three  years  ;  mean- 
while the  plague  broke  out  which  has  since 
carried  off  thousands  of  the  population.  It 
seemed  as  though  God  was  speaking  to  the  city 
through  His  servants  ;  that  many  must  have 
heard  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  at  that  time, 
who  have  since  passed  away,  and  who  will  be 
unable  to  say  they  had  no  offer  of  salvation, 
and  had  never  heard  the  good  tidings.  There 
was  doubtless  some  fruit  to  eternity  in  this 
labour,  but  there  was  also  an  open  rejection 
of  the  claims  of  Christ.  Especially  were  the 
English   meetings   on    Sunday   obstructed    by 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  loi 

a  howling  crowd  of  educated  Hindus  led  on 
by  a  few  bigoted  Brahmins.  On  several  occa- 
sions violence  was  resorted  to,  and  speakers 
went  home  with  wounds  and  bruises,  literally 
"  rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  "  for  Christ's  sake.  But  their  poor  mis- 
guided assailants  died  like  flies  in  the  succeed- 
ing days  of  pestilence.  That  pestilence  should 
follow  the  open  rejection  of  God's  proffered 
mercy  and  salvation,  is  but  a  fulfilment  and 
repetition  of  truth  reiterated  in  the  Divine 
revelation.  It  was  no  accidental  coincidence 
that  the  Alliance  carried  out  that  three  years' 
proclamation  of  free  grace  for  dying  sinners. 
In  May  and  June,  1896,  ribald  crowds  jeered 
the  preachers.  In  November  and  December  and 
later,  tens  of  thousands  fled  from  the  city ;  house 
after  house  was  empty ;  twelve  shops  shut  in  one 
row  of  nineteen  ;  and  door  after  door  bore  the 
ugly  plague  mark  with  dates  of  deaths  that 
had  occurred.  No  one  who  went  through 
those  few  months  of  the  first  outbreak  of 
plague  in  Bombay  will  ever  forget  it.  The 
death  scenes  all  around,  the  unroofed  houses, 
the  fleeing  multitudes,  the  terrified  servants, 
the  disappearance  of  familiar  faces  in  the 
market  and  the  shops.  All  cannot  be  told. 
The  constant  funeral  processions  growing  more 
hurried  and  less  elaborate  day  by  day,  the 
ambulance  carts  with  their  victims,  the  smell 
of  disinfectants,  the  wailing  of  the  mourning 


I02  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

women,  and  the  death-like  emptiness  of  the 
streets  after  dark  will  live  in  the  memory- 
while  memory  lasts. 

Mrs  Fuller  was  herself  only  occasionally 
able  to  participate  in  the  open-air  work,  but 
she  helped  and  encouraged  the  other  workers. 
One  advantage  she  enjoyed  of  living  in 
Bombay,  was  that  she  was  able  to  keep  her 
children  with  her  longer  than  she  could  have 
done  in  a  hot  mofussil  station  like  Akola. 
The  elder  ones  made  good  progress  in  their 
studies  by  attending  a  Mission  High  School, 
while  little  Jean,  the  baby  born  in  America, 
was  the  life  and  joy  of  her  mother's  heart,  and 
her  constant  companion.  A  younger  son  had 
followed  Jean,  but  he  was  early  taken. 

Jean  was  the  sunshine  of  the  house.  She 
called  all  the  missionary  ladies  "auntie." 
Her  elder  sister  and  brother  George  thought 
there  was  no  one  like  Jean.  She  was  a  fairy- 
like child  with  dainty  manners  and  quaint 
sayings.  Her  little  heart  turned  to  her 
mother's  God  like  a  flower  to  the  sun.  Once 
at  an  evangelistic  mission  in  Bombay,  when 
testimonies  were  being  given  at  the  closing 
meeting,  Jean  jumped  from  her  seat  by  her 
mother's  side  and  her  childish  voice  rang  out, 
"  Those  that  seek  Me  early  shall  find  Me." 

More  than  once  was  Jean  given  back  from 
the  gates  of  death,  so  that  her  parents  came  to 
look  upon  her  as  given  for  the  Lord's  service. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  103 

One  rainy  season,  Mr  Fuller  being  absent  from 
home,  visiting  the  stations  of  the  mission  in 
China,  Jean  was  taken  sick  and  ran  down 
completely.  Her  mother  had  to  go  to  Akola 
on  business,  and  took  Jean,  hoping  the  change 
would  do  her  good,  but  she  came  back  not  so 
well.  Sunday  came  and  Mrs  Fuller  went  to 
the  open  air  meeting  on  the  shore,  but  left  as 
soon  as  she  had  spoken,  and  hurried  home  to 
put  Jean  to  bed.  She  sat  by  her  side  weary 
and  depressed.  When  the  other  workers 
returned  it  occurred  to  Mrs  Fuller  that  though 
Jean's  illness  had  been  laid  before  the  Lord 
for  healing,  they  had  not  anointed  her  in 
accordance  with  James  v.  14.  As  the  oil  was 
brought,  Mrs  Fuller  said  she  felt  a  thrill  of  life 
go  through  her,  bringing  courage,  hope  and 
rest.  Jean  was  anointed,  with  prayer,  and  slept 
soundly  all  night.  In  the  morning  she  looked 
sweetly  at  her  mother  and  said,  "  Mamma,  I 
am  well,"  and  she  was  ;  not  a  trace  of  the 
disease  returned  after  the  anointing. 


CHAPTER  IX 

TRAVEL   AND    BEREAVEMENT 

"  It  is  /,  be  not  afraid^ 

We  speak  of  Mrs  Fuller  as  living  in  Bombay 
at  this  time.  She  was  ;  but  how  often  we 
have  called  in  at  "  Berachah "  and  found  her 
absent  in  some  distant  part  of  the  mission 
field,  or  just  home  from  a  journey,  or  about 
to  start.  The  young  missionaries  placed  out 
in  these  needy  fields  in  Berar,  Khandeish 
and  Gujarat,  enjoyed  a  motherly  as  well  as 
a  fatherly  superintendence.  In  sicknesses, 
marriages,  births  and  deaths,  Mrs  Fuller  was 
ever  at  hand  to  help  and  sympathise.  Every 
new  station  had  its  special  history  of  trial 
and  triumph  in  which  she  fully  shared.  How 
conscientiously  she  persevered  in  this  frequent 
and  arduous  work  may  be  gathered  from  her 
own  account  of  her  journeyings  at  one  period, 
which  I  quote.  (What  she  was  to  the  mission- 
aries she  visited  they  will  tell  further  on.) 

"  It  was  about  the  middle  of  March,  the 
beginning  of  the  hot  season.  I  had  been 
travelling  much,  and  in  a  month  had  had  ten 


io6  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

nights  of  broken  rest  on  trains.  In  some 
places  I  had  spoken  sometimes  four  hours  a 
day.  Then  followed  our  first  Marathi  Con- 
vention, with  the  heavy  sorrow  of  the  first 
break  in  our  ranks,  and  the  death  of  precious 
workers.  The  Convention  closed  with  much 
blessing,  but  the  heat  was  becoming  great,  and 
at  times  I  felt  it  much.  I  had  visited  all  the 
stations  in  Berar  but  one,  and  wanted  to  visit 
this  also  before  returning  to  Igatpuri.  This 
station,  Buldana,  is  off  the  railway,  and  the 
journey  involved  a  six  hours'  ride  in  a  tonga, 
facing  the  sun,  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  day. 
It  looked  very  tempting  to  go  home  and  rest. 
My  husband  suggested  that  I  write  and  say 
that  I  could  not  come.  But  what  was  I  to 
write  ?  That  I  was  not  able  to  come,  and  the 
heat  was  too  great  ?  Oh,  no  !  I  had  long 
been  off  that  ground.  '  I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  who  strengtheneth  me.'  The 
only  thing  that  would  satisfy  me  was  to  write 
that  it  was  not  God's  will  for  me  to  come,  and 
I  kept  feeling  that  it  was  ! 

"  We  left  A  kola  on  the  early  morning 
train.  .  .  .  We  got  off  at  Mulkapur  and  rested 
in  the  Travellers'  Bungalow  till  noon,  when  the 
mail  tonga  should  start.  The  heat  was  very 
oppressive,  and  I  had  to  get  between  the  doors 
for  air  so  that  I  could  breathe  easily.  How 
Satan  contended  with  me  that  I  dare  not  go  ; 
that    to    ride    facing    that    sun    in    my    weak 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  107 

condition  might  cost  me  my  life.  All  that  he 
said  seemed  so  real  and  true.  But  blessed  be 
God,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  enduring,  as 
seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  I  knew  it  was 
not  true.    '  God  is  faithful  that  promised.' 

"  When  the  tonga  came  it  was  rickety  and 
old,  and  the  ponies  were  bad.  One  of  them 
fell  down  on  the  way.  How  hot  the  sun  was, 
and  yet  the  words,  '  The  sun  shall  not  smite 
thee,'  stood  out  before  me  in  living  letters. 
They  spread  out  over  me  like  a  great  umbrella. 
The  journey  came  to  an  end,  and  with  it  a 
warm  welcome  from  our  missionaries.  I  was 
not  even  weary.  It  was  perfect  victory.  I 
would  not  have  missed  what  faith  brought  out 
for  me  on  that  journey  for  any  rest  any  place 
could  have  given  me.  I  knew  in  a  deeper 
sense  than  ever  before  what  is  meant  by  '  the 
life  of  Christ  being  manifest  in  my  body.' 
I  felt  so  well  all  my  stay  there,  and  reached 
home  rested  and  refreshed.  The  spring  of 
that  victory  remained  in  my  life  for  weeks. 
Had  I  given  up  the  journey  and  gone  home 
to  rest,  I  believe  it  would  have  taken  several 
weeks  to  have  got  rested.  It  means  much  to 
have  all  our  spring?  in  God." 

Mrs  Fuller's  journeyings  in  the  Gospel  were 
not  confined  to  her  own  mission.  She  de- 
lighted to  abound  towards  other  fields  also. 
An  Indian  pastor,  who  had  profited  spiritually 
by  her  ministrations  in  Bombay,  besought  her 


io8  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

to  come  to  his  aid  in  impressing  the  truths  of 
the  Holy  Spirit's  work  and  office  on  his  con- 
gregation in  the  Konkan,  that  part  of  the 
mainland  lying  behind  the  island  of  Bombay, 
below  the  mountain  ranges  called  the  Western 
Ghauts.  It  was  not  the  distance  but  the 
difficulty  of  access  which  made  the  journey 
toilsome.  Mrs  Fuller  went,  and  felt  well 
repaid  for  the  effort  by  the  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  the  truth  which  she  found 
among  the  people. 

In  January,  1897,  she  joined  her  husband 
and  a  friend  in  an  evangelistic  tour  among  the 
Syrian  Christians  in  Travancore,  in  the  extreme 
south  of  India.  This  involved  a  long  journey 
by  boat  as  well  as  rail,  and  an  absence  from 
home  and  children  of  several  weeks.  It  was 
like  a  trip  to  another  land — the  people,  their 
language  and  habits  entirely  different  to  those 
of  Central  India.  The  Syrian  Christians  are  a 
sturdy  race,  the  oldest  body  of  Christians  in 
India,  dating  back,  it  is  said,  from  a  visit  of  the 
Apostle  Thomas,  who,  according  to  tradition, 
brought  the  Gospel  to  India  and  died  near 
Madras. 

Although  much  of  the  time  sunk  in  indiffer- 
entism  and  brought  under  the  papal  yoke,  there 
is  now  a  hopeful  reform  movement  among  this 
interesting  people.  They  have  all  these  years 
preserved  their  autonomy,  and  manage  their 
church    affairs    with    a    sturdy    independence 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  109 

that  is  in  refreshing  contrast  to  some  churches 
in  other  parts  founded  by  modern  missions. 
Mrs  Fuller  felt  it  was  a  new  experience  to  be 
among  these  native  brethren,  who  arranged  all 
the  details  of  the  mission,  and  at  whose  invita- 
tion they  were  there.  There  was  a  great 
hunger  to  hear,  even  though  the  message  came 
through  an  interpreter.  The  people  would 
listen  for  five  hours  at  a  stretch,  standing  in 
the  open  air  or  sitting  closely  packed  on  the 
floor  of  the  church.  Mrs  Fuller's  own  service 
was  to  have  been  confined  to  the  women,  but 
after  she  had  once  spoken  in  the  open  air  the 
men  crowded  the  verandahs  of  the  church  while 
she  was  speaking  to  the  women  inside.  The 
accommodation  was  most  primitive,  and  the 
travelling  tedious,  but  they  felt  well  repaid  for 
all  difficulties  by  the  spirit  of  inquiry  and 
interest  in  their  hearers. 

They  had  been  away  several  weeks,  out  of 
the  track  of  letters  and  telegrams,  and  as  they 
turned  their  faces  homeward  a  pang  of  depress- 
ing monition  seized  Mrs  Fuller's  heart  with 
regard  to  Jean.  She  knew  plague  had  been 
raging  in  Bombay,  and  that  other  complaints 
were  rife  there.  Had  her  household  been 
spared  ?  When  they  reached  the  railway, 
letters  met  them,  relieving  her  with  the  news 
that  all  was  well,  and  on  their  arrival  Jean 
was  there  to  give  her  usual  joyous  welcome. 

Arrangements  had  been  made  for  Mr  and 


no  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Mrs  Fuller  to  take  a  furlough  to  America, 
starting  in  April.  Lucia  and  George  were  to 
be  placed  at  school,  and  would  remain  in 
America.  But  the  mother's  heart  was  per- 
plexed about  Jean.  Not  knowing  of  the 
struggle,  Jeannie  one  day  asked,  "  Mamma, 
will  you  leave  me  in  America  ?  "  "I  do  not 
know,  darling  ;  do  you  want  to  stay  ? "  was 
the  reply.  "  Oh  no,  mamma ;  you  go  to 
America  and  leave  George  and  Lucia,  and  I 
will  stay  here  with  Auntie  Park  till  you  come 
back."  Jean  accompanied  her  mother  to  the 
annual  Marathi  Convention,  and  also  in  her 
farewell  visits  to  all  the  mission  stations,  and 
was  so  interested  in  the  famine  children,  and 
ready  to  give  them  her  toys  and  playthings. 
When  at  home  she  had  a  daily  governess  who 
taught  her  to  read  and  write  and  sew,  and 
taught  her  texts  and  hymns.  Once  in  writing 
she  was  reproved  that  her  letter  "  as  "  were  too 
narrow.      She  said  they  were  "  famine  a's." 

Jean's  proposal  to  remain  in  India  was  not 
seriously  considered.  The  rest  must  be  told 
in  her  mother's  own  pathetic  words  :  "  At  the 
Marathi  Convention  Jean  came  with  beaming 
face  and  asked  to  be  baptised  with  the  new 
converts.  But  we  thought  best  to  put  her  off. 
How  stupid  we  were  !  It  might  have  meant 
much  to  her.  In  ten  more  days  she  was  with 
Jesus.  We  reached  home,  glad  our  India 
journeys  were  all  over,  and  hastened  to  com- 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  1 1 1 

plete  the  preparation  for  the  long  journey  to 
America.  Jeannie  was  full  of  glee  about  the 
home-going,  and  her  near  birthday  when  she 
would  be  six  years  old.  On  Monday  after- 
noon we  had  a  wedding  in  the  house,  and  Jean 
looked  a  perfect  picture  as  she  watched  the 
ceremony  on  a  couch  by  herself,  dressed  in  a 
dotted  white  muslin  with  blue  ribbons.  Five 
days  later  she  lay  in  her  coffin  in  the  same 
dress,  only  we  had  changed  the  blue  ribbons 
for  white.  She  caught  cold,  and  croup  set  in. 
On  Friday  evening  she  seemed  better.  Sud- 
denly she  grew  restless  and  wanted  to  be 
carried,  saying,  '  I   cannot  sleep.' 

"  We  carried  her  till  we  were  all  weary,  and 
then  the  restlessness  broke  as  suddenly  as  it 
came.  '  Sing,'  she  said,  in  her  sweet  emphatic 
way.  '  What  shall  we  sing,  darling  ?  '  we  asked. 
*  Sing,  "  Praise  Him,  praise  Him,  Jesus  our 
blessed  Redeemer  !  " ' 

"  But  before  we  could  sing  she  sang  the  first 
verse  partly  through.  She  listened  quietly  while 
we  sang ;  then  asked  for  the  hymn,  '  Jesus  bids 
me  shine.'  When  we  had  finished  she  again 
said,  '  Sing.'  We  asked  what  she  wanted,  and 
she  replied,  '  Oh,  Auntie  Miller  knows.'  Mrs 
Miller  ^  started,  '  When  He  cometh.  When  He 

^  Mrs  Miller,  a  Scotch  member  of  the  Alliance  Mission,  of 
whom  Jean  was  very  fond.  She  died  twelve  months  later,  and 
had  a  vision  of  Jean  among  the  shining  ones  in  her  dying 
hours. 


112  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

cometh  to  make  up  His  jewels.*  Several 
times  Jeannie  broke  out  in  prayer.  Once  she 
said,  '  O  Lord,  I  do  not  like  my  voice  like 
this  ;  make  it  better.'  And  soon  she  spoke 
clearer,  and  recognised  that  Jesus  had  done  it. 
Finally  she  asked  that  all  might  leave  the 
room,  and  the  light  be  put  out.  She  was  quiet 
as  if  asleep,  when  we  noticed  a  change  in  her 
breathing.  On  bringing  a  light  we  found  her 
unconscious.  As  the  family  gathered  in  the 
room  she  came  to  herself,  and  her  eyes  looked 
like  stars,  while  her  face  wore  an  awed  expres- 
sion. She  said  one  or  two  things,  then  looking 
at  one  of  the  ladies,  said,  '  Miss  Park,  Jesus ' 

She   never   finished   it.     We   repeated 

texts  to  her.  As  we  watched  her,  something 
said  to  us,  *  No  more  perplexity  about  her 
staying  behind  in  the  homeland.'  Then  came 
the  words  with  power  and  comfort,  '  Yet  a 
little  while,  and  He  that  shall  come  will  come, 
and  will  not  tarry'  (Heb.  x.  2>7)' 

"  We  repeated  the  words  to  Jean,  and  a  little 
later  she  closed  her  eyes  and  *  fell  asleep.' 
The  anchor  of  the  Word  gripped  us  fast  before 
the  waves  of  sorrow  poured  over  us.  Yes, 
they  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with 
Him.  We  do  not  wonder  they  called  it  the 
'  blessed  hope,'  and  that  Paul  urged  them  to 
*  comfort  one  another  with  these  words.'  .  .  . 

"  We  laid  the  precious  dust  in  the  English 
cemetery  in  Bombay.      We  gathered   up  her 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  1 1 3 

toys  and  sent  most  of  them  to  the  famine 
orphans  as  she  would  have  desired.  Her  little 
outfit  made  for  the  homeland,  untouched  and 
unworn,  was  God's  provision  for  two  fatherless 
little  girls  on  their  way  home  too.  How  long 
was  that  journey,  how  tender  the  care  He  be- 
stowed that  our  hearts  were  too  dumb  with 
sorrow  to  even  ask  for.  Then  He  tenderly 
spoke  one  more  word  that  had  power  to  break 
sorrow.  '  Blessed  is  he  whosoever  shall  not  be 
offended  in  Me  '  (Matt.  xi.  6).  Grief  indulged 
becomes  offence  with  God's  dealing.  '  If  ye 
loved  Me  ye  would  rejoice'  (John  xiv.  28). 
Praise  the  Lord,  but  means, '  Thy  will  be  done.'" 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  TIME  OF  INDIA'S  TROUBLE 

"  For  the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time, 
.  .  .  watt  for  it,  because  it  will  surely  come,  it 
will  not  tarry P 

The  pressing  needs  of  India,  then  stricken 
with  the  weary  famine  conditions  which  have 
lasted  more  or  less  ever  since,  made  Mrs  Fuller's 
visit  to  America  at  this  time  a  very  busy  one. 
She  did  not  spare  herself  in  going  wherever 
she  found  an  open  door  to  tell  of  the  starving 
thousands  in  their  own  district  of  Berar,  and  of 
the  opportunities  for  service  which  lay  before 
the  missionaries  who  were  left  on  the  field. 
But  while  she  was  greatly  in  request  for  meet- 
ings and  conventions,  she  took  a  little  home 
for  her  children,  and  spent  as  much  time  as 
possible  with  them. 

Mrs  Fuller's  own  experience  of  the  six 
famine  girls  she  received  in  1877,  gave  her  an 
excellent  leverage  in  advocating  the  cause  of 
famine  orphans  now.  She  could  tell  of  Shan- 
tibai,  the  elder  one,  mentioned  before  in  these 
pages,  now  an  earnest   Christian   woman,  the 


1 1 6  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

efficient  helper  of  a  missionary  engaged  in 
gathering  in  famine  children.  Also  of  two 
others,  Ashabai  and  Imambai,  labouring  in  the 
same  blessed  work. 

The  "  Story  of  Chandur  "  which  Mrs  Fuller 
wrote  at  this  time  may  be  suitably  quoted  here 
as  a  graphic  delineation  of  missionary  life  in  a 
period  of  famine: — 

"  In  the  farthest  end  of  our  Marathi  field  is 
the  town  of  Chandur.  It  is  not  very  large,  but 
the  centre  of  an  extensive  agricultural  district, 
and  many,  many  villages.  When  Mr  Simpson 
was  in  India,  he  and  Mr  Fuller  visited  it,  and 
decided  to  make  it  a  mission  station,  and  had 
it  laid  on  their  hearts  to  send  Mr  and  Mrs 
Ramsey  there.  But  there  was  not  a  house  to 
dwell  in,  and  we  had  no  money  in  hand  to 
build  a  house.  And  in  addition,  while  this 
appointment  was  made,  Mr  and  Mrs  Ramsey 
were  both  very  low  with  fever,  and  it  was  a 
question  in  the  minds  of  those  who  watched 
over  them  whether  they  would  ever  live  to  go 
to  Chandur.  Was  it  the  enemy  contesting  the 
appointment  and  the  new  station  right  in  the 
heart  of  a  place  where  he,  alone,  had  ruled 
for  centuries  ?  We  can  never  forget  the  fight 
of  faith  of  that  sick  room.  Jesus  was  victor  ! 
Praise  His  name  !  After  a  time  of  study  they 
moved  to  a  place  as  near  Chandur  as  they 
could  get,  where  a  house  was  obtained,  and 
lived  on  the  borders  of  their  field,  sowing  and 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  117 

preparing  the  soil  of  it  with  prayer  as  they 
completed  their  course  of  study. 

"  Then  in  a  time  of  deep  trial,  God  sent  a 
love-token  that  He  was  with  us,  in  the  shape 
of  a  cheque  for  ten  thousand  rupees,  just 
enough  to  put  up  three  new  houses,  and  thus 
permanently  open  three  unoccupied  fields. 
What  joy  it  brought !  And  in  Chandur  was 
the  first  sod  broken  in  all  our  mission  field  for 
a  house. 

"  The  little  home  was  finished,  and  Mr  and 
Mrs  Ramsey  and  wee  Sarah  moved  into  it. 
Mrs  Simmons  and  other  ladies  helped  them 
there.  After  the  joy  of  being  in  their  own 
home  and  in  their  own  station  had  had  its  first 
flush,  the  discovery  dawned  upon  them  that 
Chandur  was  not  an  easy  field.  There  were 
no  European  comforts  to  be  bought  as  in  many 
other  stations,  for  they  were  the  only  Euro- 
peans in  the  place.  But  that  was  as  nothing 
compared  to  the  constant  rejection  of  the 
people.  It  was  very  hard.  More  than  once 
has  Mrs  Ramsey  and  the  young  lady  living 
with  her  been  refused  admittance  to  every 
house  at  which  they  called,  and  after  a  weary 
tramp  have  had  to  return  home  from  what 
seemed  a  fruitless  day's  work.  There  were 
now  and  then  baptisms  in  the  other  stations, 
tokens  of  life,  drops  of  rain,  forerunners  of  a 
shower ;  but  no  such  tokens  in  Chandur.  To 
the   watchers  there,  there  was  only  now  and 


ii8  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

then  the  cloud  as  big  as  a  man's  hand  that  the 
wind  soon  chased  away.  The  district  around 
them  was  much  like  other  districts,  and  was 
faithfully  worked  through  the  touring  season. 

"  What  battles  with  fever,  too,  have  been 
fought  in  that  little  home !  The  station  be- 
came known  as  one  of  the  hardest  in  the 
mission.  And  it  might  also  be  called  a  bad 
town.  But,  oh,  what  seasons  of  prayer  has  the 
little  home  witnessed  !  *  Bethel '  should  many 
times  have  been  written  on  its  walls.  In  the 
midst  of  discouragement  and  trial  was  the 
vision  of  the  flock  God  had  given  them.  When 
Paul  went  to  Corinth,  the  gay  Paris  of  ancient 
times,  after  his  seeming  failure  at  Athens,  he 
says  he  went  in  much  fear  and  trembling. 
And  when  it  seemed  as  if  the  history  of  his 
stay  in  Athens  was  to  be  repeated  in  Corinth, 
God  said  to  him,  *  Be  not  afraid,  but  speak  ; 
and  hold  not  thy  peace ;  for  I  am  with  thee, 
and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee ; 
for  I  have  much  people  in  this  city.'  And 
who  were  they?  The  mighty  and  noble  of 
the  city  ?  No.  '  Not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble,'  but  there  were  some,  and  the 
rest  were  slaves,  pickpockets,  evil  men,  Shy- 
locks  extorting  money,  idolaters  and  men  out 
of  the  very  scum  of  Corinth,  for  he  writes, 
'  Be  not  deceived ;  neither  fornicators,  nor 
idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor 
abusers  of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves, 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  1 1 9 

nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor 
extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  such  were  some  of  you ;  but  ye  are 
washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justi- 
fied in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  our  God.' 

"  God  gave  Paul  the  vision,  and  then  fulfilled 
it.  God  gave  our  dear  workers  in  Chandur 
the  vision  of  a  church,  and  it  was  yet  to  be 
transformed  out  of  the  very  scum  of  the 
populace  about  them  perhaps,  and  out  of  some 
of  the  noble,  for,  thank  God,  though  it  does 
say,  '  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh  .  .  . 
not  many  noble,'  yet  it  does  not  say, '  not  any.' 

"  Time  wore  on.  Then  God  took  little 
prattling  Sarah,  and  how  still  the  mission 
house  was.  Loving  hands  from  another 
station  fashioned  a  coffin  out  of  the  shelves  of 
a  cupboard,  and  covered  it  with  white  cloth. 
There  was  no  beautiful  cemetery,  green  and 
well  cared  for,  to  lay  the  precious  dust  away 
in  to  await  the  great  trump.  But  the  head- 
man of  the  town  gave  them  a  place  on  top  of 
a  rocky  hill.  What  a  world  of  pathos  there  is 
in  these  lonely,  solitary  graves  in  India,  the 
Congo,  and  Soudan  !  It  was  a  heavy  blow, 
but  better  fitted  the  workers  for  the  place  God 
had  given  them.  Henceforth,  in  our  own 
minds,  the  station  became  'the  station  with 
the  grave  on  the  hill.' 

"  Then   came   the   famine,  and  it  was  first 


I20  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

heaviest  at  Chandur,  of  all  our  stations.  It 
found  Mr  and  Mrs  Ramsey  worn,  and  it  was 
the  beginning  of  the  hot  season,  when  we  had 
planned  that  they  should  both  have  a  thorough 
rest  and  change  at  the  hills.  But  as  the  need 
grew  greater,  after  much  prayer,  they  were 
able  to  touch  the  spring  of  His  life  for  theirs, 
and  went  on,  under  great  pressure  of  work, 
through  the  heat.  Early  God  gave  them  a 
soul,  in  the  clear  conversion  of  a  famine 
refugee.  He  had  been  an  opium  smoker  and 
a  slave  to  its  use.  The  doctor  told  him  it 
might  mean  death  to  break  it  off  at  once. 
The  missionaries  told  him  Jesus  was  able  to 
heal.  The  man  fought  the  battle  out  himself, 
and  launched  out  upon  Jesus,  and  never  had 
any  trouble  whatever,  and  through  it  Jesus  was 
made  real  to  him.  He  was  baptised  at  our 
Marathi  Convention  (at  Akola).  As  he  went 
down  into  the  water.  Miss  Olmstead,  with  beam- 
ing face,  turned  to  me  and  said  in  Marathi,  as 
she  pointed  to  the  man,  *  Chandur's  first  fruits.' 
"  Will  the  early  missionaries  in  the  Marathi 
field  ever  forget  the  baptisms  of  our  first 
converts  in  the  beautiful  river  at  Akola,  with 
the  setting  sun  gilding  the  water,  the  heads  of 
the  workers,  and  filling  all  the  trees  with  its 
glory?  It  seems  to  us  we  can  yet  hear  the 
music  of  the  Marathi  hymns  as  they  were 
wafted  over  the  water. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  121 

"  We  pass  over  the  weary  months  of  famine 
suffering,  the  epidemic  of  cholera  that  came 
as  the  rains  came  on,  of  God's  deliverance,  of 
the  days  of  pressure  and  work,  and  let  Mrs 
Ramsey's  letter  finish  our  story  : — 

" '  These  are  very  busy  days  with  us,  and 
God  gives  strength  for  the  day.  Since  we 
received  Mr  Lambert's  load  of  grain  we  have 
seen,  oh,  so  much  sadness  and  hunger.  We 
thought  it  bad  enough  before,  but  the  news  of 
the  grain  must  have  spread  like  wildfire,  for 
crowds  began  to  come  from  the  villages,  eight 
and  ten  miles  away.  Poor  things  !  instead  of 
stomachs  they  had  loose  flaps  of  skin  covering 
them.^ 

"  *  Saturday  we  had  twenty-one  hundred, 
some  of  them  representing  a  family  of  six  or 
seven.  We  had  given  out  tickets,  but  there 
was  so  much  imposition  we  took  them  back, 
and  gave  equally  to  all.  To-day  we  must 
have  had  two  thousand  in  all.  Besides  this 
there  are  numbers  of  fresh  arrivals  daily, 
pleading  and  falling  at  our  feet  for  food.  We 
have  felt  that  we  could  not  keep  up  the  rush 
without  some  solid  rest.  Sometimes  it  has 
been  short  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  but  last 
Sunday   Mrs    Simmons  just    ordered  that  no 

1  The  Mennonite  Church  in  America  sent  out  a  large 
quantity  of  corn,  which  was  disbursed  through  missionaries, 
by  Mr  George  Lambert,  their  delegated  almoner,  who  visited 
India  for  the  purpose. 


122  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

one  should  be  allowed  in  the  compound,  and 
the  quiet  day  was  very  refreshing. 

"  *  The  past  week  has  been  wonderful  in  its 
experience.  One  wonders  where  all  the 
emaciated  forms  come  from  ;  but  as  we  visit 
the  villages  we  find  that  most  of  the  people 
live  on  the  green  leaves  they  can  pick  up 
anywhere,  and  some  have  the  luxury  of  a 
couple  of  pice  a  day  for  weeding.  To  such 
families  even  a  seer  (two  pounds)  of  grain 
means  much. 

" '  You  know  how  the  children  look  with 
stomachs  distended  almost  ready  to  burst,  not 
even  the  form  of  hips,  large  heads  and 
shrunken  limbs.  And,  oh!  what  vermin  and 
filth!  You  may  fancy  what  a  place  would  be 
like  after  two  thousand  had  been  sitting  on  it. 
We  refused  grain  one  day  until  they  had 
cleaned  the  place. 

"'Coming  thus  in  contact  with  the  people, 
one  sees  their  need  as  fellow  beings,  and  feels 
for  them.  But  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  great  as  is  their  physical  need  in  this 
awful  time,  it  is  only  an  index  to  their  deeper 
need.  What  deception,  lying  and  rascality 
one  sees  daily  for  a  mouthful  of  food  !  I  do 
hope  as  you  hold  up  the  one  need  of  food  to 
the  dear  ones  in  the  homeland,  that  they  may 
never  fail  to  take  in  the  fact  that  these  dear 
people  are  dying  without  a  Saviour.  We  often 
groan  as  we  fail  to  see  deep  conviction  of  sin 


A  Life  for  God  in  India 


123 


that  would  make  them  cry  out,  "What  shall  we 
do  to  be  saved?  " 

"  *  I  went  through  the  Poor-house  yesterday. 
I  saw  fourteen  men  and  women  lying  on  cots 
in  the  last  stages  of  starvation.  The  word 
"  skeletons  "  does  not  express  the  sight.  Only 
one  had  strength  enough  to  complain. 

"'  Mrs  Simmons  took  nine  boys  to  the  Akola 
Orphanage  to-day.  I  wish  I  could  give  the 
history  of  each.  One  was  lying  on  the  ground 
unable  to  walk  after  the  distribution  of  grain 
one  morning.  With  great  tears  rolling  down 
his  face  he  said,  "  I  have  nobody.  If  I  had  my 
father  he  would  care  for  me,  but  he  is  dead." 
He  is  still  with  us.  One  boy  has  his  baby 
brother,  whom  he  cares  for  like  a  mother.  My 
heart  aches  over  them  all.  What  should  we 
do  if  we  had  no  means  to  help  them  ? 

'^  *  And  now  I  know  you  will  rejoice  with  us 
to  hear  that  we  have  had  our  first  baptism  in 
Chandur.  Last  Saturday  we  baptised  eight 
persons.  You  can  imagine  our  joy  as  we  rode 
to  the  river.  Dear  Mrs  Simmons  and  I  took 
one  another's  hands,  and  said  we  would  rather 
be  here  than  in  any  place  in  the  world.' 

"  After  many  days  has  the  vision  begun  to  be 
fulfilled,  and  a  little  church  has  been  formed 
on  Chandur's  hard  soil.  Its  foundation  was 
laid  in  prayers,  and  tears,  and  trust,  in  the 
days  of  cloud  and  darkness.  We  rejoice  with 
them.     A  few  mails  before  these  same  hearts 


124  ^  Life  for  God  in  India 

had  written  us :  *  Sometimes  we  have  high 
hopes  of  some,  and  again  they  are  dashed  to 
the  ground.  But  whether  we  see  any  fruit  or 
not,  may  God  help  us  to  stand.' 

"  When  a  missionary  enters  a  city  and  district, 
there  are  hearts  that  are  sore  with  bereavement, 
heavy  with  discipHne,  trial  and  disappointment, 
with  a  hunger  that  no  pilgrimage,  vow,  penance 
or  austerity  has  ever  satisfied,  longing  for  some- 
thing, and  that  something  is  Jesus,  of  whom 
the  missionary  alone  can  tell.  Let  us  pray 
that  he  may  find  such  hearts.  Perhaps  that 
drunkard  rolling  from  one  side  of  the  street 
to  the  other  that  he  meets  ;  that  debauchee 
with  his  ribald  song ;  that  bold-faced  woman 
who  peers  so  shamelessly  into  his  face ;  that 
thief  who  stole  the  blanket  out  of  his  cart  while 
he  was  preaching  in  the  market-place  ;  that 
thin-visaged  money-lender  exacting  his  pound 
of  flesh  from  that  poor  mother  and  her 
children ;  that  elderly  Brahmin  who  passed 
him  so  haughtily  just  now,  or  those  young 
high  caste  boys  just  out  of  high  school,  who 
held  up  his  mistakes  in  Marathi  for  ridicule 
to  the  crowd  as  he  preached,  and  battered 
him  with  foolish  questions  to  no  profit ; 
perhaps  these  are  the  very  ones  that  God  has 
in  that  city  to  transform,  who  are  to  be  the 
future  church — and  to  whom  it  shall  be  written  : 
*  And  such  were  some  of  you,  but  ye  are 
washed.' 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  125 

"  God  grant  that  the  friends  at  home  who 
support  the  missionary  may  catch  with  him 
*the  vision,'  and  though  it  tarry,  wait  with 
him  for  it  until  it  be  fulfilled,  '  because  it  will 
surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry.' " 

While  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  were  travelling 
about  in  America  and  Canada,  pleading  the 
needs  of  India,  their  own  circumstances  were 
not  luxurious,  except  as  they  might  be  here 
and  there  entertained  in  homes  of  luxury. 
For  herself  the  simplest  fare  and  entertainment 
satisfied  Mrs  Fuller  ;  it  was  only  for  her  children 
that  she  now  and  then  sighed  for  the  means  to 
give  them  some  little  extra  indulgence.  A 
little  story  she  wrote  concerning  this  period 
was  entitled  "OUR  ONLY  THANKSGIVING 
Turkey." 

"  As  it  neared  Thanksgiving  Day,  we  remem- 
bered we  had  never  had  a  real  home  Thanks- 
giving in  our  little  family,  and  there  came  a 
desire  to  have  one,  and  we  almost  choked  as 
we  remembered  that  it  would  not  only  be  our 
first  one,  but  might  be  our  last  one  together. 
We  well  knew  in  parting  with  our  children, 
the  circle  might  never  be  complete  again. 

"  As  the  desire  grew,  I  began  wondering  if 
I  could  afford  a  turkey,  and  have  a  real  old- 
fasbJoned  Thanksgiving  dinner.  For  years  I 
have  known  the  secret  that  nothing  is  too 
small  for  Jesus,  and  that  He  withholds  nothing 


126  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

that  is  best  for  us.  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty 
to  spend  the  money,  but  I  left  it  to  Him  to 
provide  if  He  saw  best  for  us  to  have  it.  So 
one  day  at  the  table  I  said,  '  Children,  I  am 
asking  the  Lord  for  a  Thanksgiving  turkey.' 
The  suggestion  was  met  with  a  round  of 
applause. 

"  Just  the  week  before  Thanksgiving,  I  was 
asked  to  assist  in  some  meetings  in  Canada. 
I  went  very  reluctantly,  with  the  promise  that 
I  should  be  allowed  to  come  back  the  evening 
before  Thanksgiving.  Just  as  I  was  leaving, 
a  feeling  of  misgiving  seized  me.  '  What  if 
God  should  not  send  the  turkey  ?  The  children 
will  be  disappointed.  There  is  no  promise  in 
the  Bible  where  you  can  demand  a  turkey. 
If  He  gives  one,  it  will  be  pure  grace  from 
beginning  to  end.'  Then  I  said,  cautiously, 
to  the  children  the  day  I  left :  *  I'll  be  home 
sure  in  time  for  Thanksgiving,  and  if  there  is 
no  turkey,  I  know  we  can  afford  a  fowl.' 
*  Oh,'  screamed  my  boy  in  reply,  *  Mamma, 
do  not  let  your  faith  down  to  chicken  ! '  I 
responded  as  brightly  as  I  could,  and  said 
before  leaving  for  the  train  :  *  Well,  if  any 
letters  come  bearing  a  Turkish  post-mark  you 
may  open  them.' 

"My  heart  was  soon  absorbed  in  the  meetings, 
but  I  did  not  forget  the  dear  children  at  home, 
and  now  and  then  reminded  the  Father  about 
the  turkey.     Finally  the  week  was  over,  and 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  127 

the  homeward  journey  had  begun.  I  had  had 
one  bright  letter  from  the  children  to  which 
they  had  added  that  as  yet  there  had  been 
no  news  from  Turkey  ! 

"  It  was  very  cold  and  snow  was  on  the 
ground.  I  broke  my  journey  at  one  place, 
and  drove  four  miles  in  the  cold  and  over 
bad  roads,  to  see  some  dear  friends  whom  I 
might  not  see  again.  It  cost  me  some  self- 
denial,  for  I  was  eager  to  get  home.  But  I 
felt  amply  repaid  with  the  royal  welcome  they 
gave  me. 

"  As  we  went  into  the  dining-room  for  dinner 
soon  after  my  arrival,  my  friend  put  her  arm 
about  me  and  said  :  *  We  have  had  a  family 
council  to-day  over  whether  we  should  have 
turkey  to-night  or  fowl :  and  we  decided  to 
have  fowl  and  give  you  the  turkey  to  take 
home  with  you  ! '  It  may  seem  a  trifle  to 
some  of  my  readers,  but  I  bowed  my  heart 
in  gratitude  to  God.  They  had  not  known  a 
syllable  of  our  desire,  and  had  only  acted  as 
the  Father  had  led.  He  knew,  and  that  should 
always  be  enough  for  our  hearts. 

"  The  next  morning  I  saw  I  was  going  to  be 
delayed  one  train  in  getting  home,  so  I 
telegraphed  the  children  to  keep  them  from 
being  disappointed,  and  added  to  the  telegram, 
*  Good  news  from  Turkey.' 

"  It  was  a  royal  Thanksgiving  day.  We 
kept  the  key  turned  on  '  our  skeleton  in  the 


128  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

cupboard ' — that  it  would  probably  be  our  last 
Thanksgiving  together — and  would  not  think 
of  it.  I  never  tasted  such  a  turkey.  It  was 
perfect.  A  dear  friend  who  was  with  us  said 
to  me,  *  How  sweet  it  is  to  be  fed  from  the 
Lord's  hands.'  Surely  it  was  His  love  and 
care  that  sweetened  it  all  and  gave  flavour  to 
our  meal,  and  our  trust  was  renewed  in  His 
love  and  care.  Truly  God  delighteth  in 
mercy." 

The  foreboding  that  this  would  be  the  last 
Thanksgiving  they  as  a  family  would  celebrate 
was  destined  to  be  fulfilled.  The  next  year 
Mrs  Fuller  was  in  India,  and  when  the 
following  anniversary  came  round  she  had 
joined  her  darling  Jean  in  the  true  Homeland 
where  it  is  all  Thanksgiving. 


CHAPTER  XI 

LITERARY   WORK    IN    AMERICA   AND    INDIA 

**  As  poor,  yet  making  many  rich,  as  having 
nothing,  yet  possessing  all  things^ 

Mrs  Fuller's  facile  pen  was  busy  in  intervals 
of  leisure  during  this  visit  to  the  home  country. 
From  time  to  time  she  had  contributed  in- 
cidents in  her  own  experience  to  the  press, 
particularly  to  the  weekly  Christian  paper 
published  by  the  Christian  and  Missionary 
Alliance.  She  now  edited,  and  added  to  them, 
for  publication  in  a  little  volume  under  the 
title,  "  God's  Care."  ^  (By  permission  many  of 
these  incidents  have  been  incorporated  in  this 
story  of  her  life.)  In  these  she  traced  the 
loving  over-ruling  care  of  God  in  the  smaller 
as  well  as  in  the  more  important  concerns 
of  life ;  of  times  when  she  had  been  com- 
forted in  trouble,  helped  in  difficulty,  or  guided 
in  the  journey  of  life.  In  all  she  magnified 
the  grace  and  power  of  God. 

In  March  of  the  following  year,  1898,  Mrs 
Fuller  was  back  again  in  Bombay,  welcomed 

^Published  by  the  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance,  692 
Eighth  Avenue,  New  York. 

I  129 


130  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

by  many  friends,  and  soon  took  up  her  old 
manner  of  life,  saving  that  her  journeys  up 
country  were  rather  less  frequent,  as  the  new 
missionaries  were  gaining  their  own  footing 
and  required  less  oversight.  This,  with  the 
absence  of  her  children,  gave  her  more  leisure 
to  use  her  pen,  and  in  this  manner  utilise  a 
sacred  talent  in  the  Master's  service.  For 
years  she  had  published  an  occasional  paper 
giving  tidings  of  the  mission  to  friends  at  a 
distance,  and  which  circulated  chiefly,  though 
not  wholly,  in  America.  But  now  a  wide 
opportunity  offered  for  influencing  the  mis- 
sionary and  Christian  public  in  India  outside 
as  well  as  inside  her  own  circle.  In  this 
connection  it  is  necessary  to  allude  to  personal 
matters  of  the  compiler  of  this  narrative. 

For  more  than  ten  years  my  husband, 
Alfred  S.  Dyer,  had  been  in  charge  of  the 
Bombay  Guardian,  a  Christian  weekly  news- 
paper in  Bombay,  circulating  throughout  the 
whole  of  India.  The  condition  of  his  health 
made  it  imperative  that  he  should  rest,  and  as 
time  went  on  it  was  clear  that  his  work  in  that 
position  was  finished.  In  July,  1898,  two  of 
the  Alliance  missionaries,  Mr  and  Mrs  Wm. 
Franklin,  took  charge  of  the  paper  and  enabled 
us  to  get  away  for  a  change.  The  next  month 
Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller  relieved  these  friends,  and 
helped  us  more  or  less  throughout  the  re- 
mainder   of   the    year,    Mrs    Fuller    giving    a 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  131 

considerable  portion  of  her  time  to  the  work. 
It  was  our  desire  that  they  should  take  the 
responsibility  of  the  paper  on  our  leaving 
India.  They  were  willing  to  do  this,  and 
for  Mrs  Fuller  to  make  it  her  main  work  if 
the  Lord  willed  it  so.  But  eventually  it  was 
evident  that  this  was  not  the  case.  The  Lord 
provided  for  the  Bombay  Guardian  in  other 
ways.  But  during  the  remainder  of  her  life, 
Mrs  Fuller  continued  her  contributions  to  the 
paper,  and  helped  and  encouraged  the  younger 
workers,  Mr  and  Mrs  F.  Percy  Home,  upon 
whom  the  work  devolved,  and  who  at  the  time 
of  writing  are  still  bravely  carrying  it  forward. 
It  was  in  connection  with  the  Bombay 
Guardian  that  Mrs  Fuller's  most  valuable 
literary  work  was  performed.  During  her 
lengthy  missionary  experience,  the  wrongs 
suffered  by  India's  women  had  burnt  into  her 
soul,  and  her  friendship  with  Pandita  Ramabai 
had  given  her  a  further  view  behind  the  curtain 
of  caste  and  custom  that  hides  so  much  of  this 
suffering  from  the  outer  world.  She  conceived 
the  thought  of  a  series  of  papers  on  this 
subject  for  the  Bombay  Guardian^  and  having 
set  herself  to  the  task,  threw  all  her  energies 
into  it.  She  felt  deeply  the  responsibility  she 
had  undertaken,  and  took  the  utmost  pains  to 
verify  every  fact  she  stated.  In  her  quest  for 
correct  information  she  interviewed  Hindus, 
Mahomedans  and  Parsees,  consulted  libraries, 


132  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

hunted  up  ancient  and  modern  authorities,  and 
took  journeys  to  North  India  and  other  distant 
points.  She  abjured  generalities,  and  accepted 
no  statement  as  a  fact  until  she  had  it  from 
two  or  three  separate  sources.  The  result  was 
one  of  the  most  valuable  works  yet  published, 
covering  the  entire  subject  indicated  by  the 
title,  "  The  Wrongs  of  Indian  Womanhood." 

In  the  commencement  she  pictured  an 
educated  Hindu  youth,  who  had  graduated  at 
Oxford  or  Cambridge,  and  moved  freely  in 
English  family  life,  returning  to  his  own  land, 
the  contrast  he  would  find,  and  the  disappoint- 
ments that  awaited  him  in  the  society  of  his 
sisters  and  mother,  and  of  the  girl  destined 
to  be  his  wife.  Here  she  showed  the  wrong 
to  Indian  society  generally  by  the  absence  of 
education  for  women.  But  she  went  on  to 
deeper  and  more  serious  wrongs,  and  dealt 
with  the  evils  of  child  marriage,  enforced 
widowhood,  prostitution  in  the  name  of  re- 
ligion, nautch  girls,  temple  women,  and  that 
cruellest  wrong  of  all,  the  marriage  of  girl 
children  to  the  god  Khandoba.  These  chap- 
ters excited  much  interest  in  India,  and  the 
desire  was  expressed  that  they  should  be 
published  in  permanent  form,  which  was 
afterwards  done.^ 

1  ' '  The  Wrongs  of  Indian  Womanhood,"  by  Mrs  Marcus  B. 
Fuller.  Chicago  :  The  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.  ;  Edinburgh 
and  London:  Oliphant,  Anderson  &  Ferrier. 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  133 

Mrs  Fuller's  ready  sympathy  for  all  in 
trouble  led  her  to  be  frequently  consulted  by 
parents  in  regard  to  children  who  might  be 
causing  them  anxiety.  To  meet  such  cases 
she  wrote  a  little  paper  called,  "  Covenant 
Promises  to  Parents,"  showing  from  the  Scrip- 
tures what  promises  Christian  parents  can  lay 
hold  of  on  behalf  of  the  salvation  of  their 
children,  concluding  with  the  wider  outlook 
that  Christian  parents  should  claim  such  bless- 
ings, in  order  that  their  children  should  be 
made  a  blessing  ;  in  fulfilment  of  the  promise 
that  in  the  seed  of  Jesus  Christ  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  should  be  blessed.  This  is  so 
valuable  that  we  give  it  in  the  Appendix  in 
extenso. 

Another  subject  with  which  she  dealt  faith- 
fully in  the  columns  of  the  Bombay  Guardian 
embodied  a  sorely  needed  warning.  She  felt 
that  somehow  money  had  come  to  have  too  pro- 
minent a  place  in  mission  work,  that  there  were 
too  many  paid  agents  and  too  few  volunteer 
workers  among  the  Indian  Christians.  She 
longed  to  see  men  and  women  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  and  called  to  the  work  of  witnessing  for 
Christ,  while  earning  their  living  by  seculai 
employment,  or  if  giving  their  whole  time  to 
the  work,  to  see  them  supported  as  far  as  pos- 
sible by  their  Indian  brethren,  and  willing  to 
live  in  the  humblest  fashion,  as  a  testimony 
that  they  were  not  preaching  for  worldly  gain. 


134  ^  Life  for  God  in  India 

She  wrote  tenderly  as  well  as  faithfully  upon 
this  topic. 

Mrs  Fuller  rejoiced  greatly  over  the  pro- 
gress of  Pandita  Ramabai's  work  on  the  lines 
here  laid  down.  When  Ramabai  returned 
from  America  in  1898  without  any  guaranteed 
financial  backing  for  the  new  developments  of 
her  work  at  Mukti,  Mrs  Fuller  was  happy  in 
the  fact.  She  wrote:  "Ramabai  landed  in  India 
with  no  money,  and  has  now  no  promises  for 
her  mission  save  the  promises  of  God.  We  can 
only  say  we  are  glad  of  it.  It  is  the  witness 
the  Indian  church  needs.  Had  she  come  back 
with  a  large  sum  of  money,  it  would  have 
turned  the  eyes  of  the  Indian  church  to 
America  and  England  as  the  source  of  help 
for  work,  but  now  she  can  by  her  testimony 
turn  them  to  God." 

The  fact  cannot  be  too  much  reiterated  that 
all  through  Mrs  Fuller's  own  life  she  lived  what 
she  taught.  It  was  not  an  unfrequent  experi- 
ence to  her  to  be  out  of  money.  On  one  such 
occasion,  when  pestered  by  a  European  loafer 
for  help  (a  class  of  which  there  are  many 
in  Bombay),  she  had  to  reply,  like  Peter  and 
John,  "  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none,  but  such 
as  I  have  give  I  thee,"  and  went  on  to  testify 
from  her  personal  experience  that  God  was 
able  to  supply  all  need  in  answer  to  prayer. 
The  man  persisted  in  assuring  her  that  God 
had  sent  him  to  her  for  assistance.    "  Well,"  she 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  135 

replied,  "  if  that  is  true,  God  knew  I  had 
no  money,  so  did  not  send  you  to  me  for  that ; 
but  He  must  have  sent  you  to  me  for  what  I 
could  give  you — my  testimony.  I  do  not  see 
but  what  you  will  have  to  take  that."  At  that 
his  face  cleared,  and  thanking  her  for  her  words, 
left. 

When  the  late  Editor  of  the  Bombay 
Guardian  was  leaving  India,  there  was  a 
writing-desk  in  his  possession,  which  it  was 
not  convenient  to  take  back  to  England.  It 
was  a  good  desk,  with  drawers  to  the  ground 
on  either  side.  As  it  had  been  the  gift  of  a 
dear  friend,  and  had  sacred  associations  at- 
tached to  it,  he  felt  he  would  like  it  to  continue 
to  be  used  in  the  Lord's  service.  The  thought 
came  to  give  it  to  Mrs  Fuller,  who  was  just 
then  engrossed  in  her  articles  on  "  The  Wrongs 
of  Indian  Womanhood." 

A  note  was  written,  and  without  giving  her 
any  notice  the  desk  was  despatched  to  her 
home  on  the  heads  of  two  or  three  coolies. 
She  returned  a  little  note  of  thanks,  which 
touchingly  indicated  the  self-denial  of  her  life. 
She  said  she  had  often  longed  for  such  a  desk, 
but  had  never  felt  able  to  purchase  one.  When 
the  men  walked  in  with  it  and  she  realised 
that  it  was  God's  gift  to  her,  she  was  moved 
to  tears  of  thanksgiving  and  joy,  and  her 
heart  filled  with  praise  to  the  giver  of  all  good 
gifts. 


136  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

It  will  always  be  a  pleasant  memory  that 
the  farewell  meeting  given  us  when  leaving 
Bombay  in  1899,  with  its  messages  of  hope 
and  encouragement  for  the  future,  was  held  in 
the  home  of  Mr  and  Mrs  Fuller.  Several 
valued  friends  and  fellow-workers  then  with 
us  have  been  called  Home,  but  how  little  we 
or  she  thought  that  her  life  journey  was  so 
nearly  ended. 

Mrs  Fuller  was  never  more  active  in  public 
life  in  Bombay  than  at  this  time.  She  was  in 
constant  request  for  meetings  and  Bible  read- 
ings, both  in  English  and  Marathi.  She  joined 
heartily  in  open  air  meetings  at  the  band- 
stand, the  evening  resort  of  European  "  society  " 
in  Bombay.  God  owned  her  testimony  there  to 
at  least  one  soul,  who  told  after  her  death,  of 
the  blessing  received.  To  how  many  more 
it  came  as  a  message  from  God,  eternity  will 
reveal.  It  required  some  courage  to  enter  that 
circle  of  fashion,  with  carriages  by  the  dozen 
drawn  up  around  the  fence,  filled  mostly  with 
the  worldly  and  careless. 

Mrs  Fuller  sometimes  had  visions  of  an 
organised  city  mission  to  the  fallen  of  both 
sexes  in  Bombay,  to  be  called  the  "Jeannie 
Mission,"  after  her  sainted  little  daughter. 
It  was  not  God's  thought  for  her,  but  may  He 
not  through  her  be  calling  some  other  to  stand 
in  the  breach  in  this  awful  need  ?  Her  spirit 
was  stirred  to  its  deepest  depths  by  the  flagrant 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  137 

and  open  manifestations  of  immorality  in  the 
city,  and  one  of  her  last  efforts  was  to  en- 
deavour to  deepen  the  sense  of  responsibility 
in  the  hearts  of  Bombay  Christians  in  this 
respect,  and  to  urge  to  some  adequate  attempt 
to  cope  with  the  prevailing  sin  in  God's  name, 
for  His  glory,  and  the  protection  of  the  young 
of  both  sexes  who  are  inevitably  exposed  to 
the  contaminating  influence  of  this  evil.  To 
this  end  she  spoke  and  wrote,  and  interviewed 
representative  men  and  women.  God  granted 
her  a  measure  of  success,  but  such  witnessing 
is  still  a  crying  need  in  Bombay. 


CHAPTER  Xn 

THROUGH  DARK  DAYS  TO   EVERLASTING   LIFE 

"  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters 
I  will  be  with  thee" 

In  October,  1899,  dark  clouds  of  famine  again 
spread  over  Western  India,  affecting  all  the 
mission  stations  of  the  Alliance.  Mrs  Fuller 
was  henceforth  entirely  engrossed  by  the  im- 
mensity of  this  need.  After  having,  with  her 
husband,  made  a  survey  of  the  field,  she 
returned  to  Bombay  and  wrote  an  eloquent 
and  touching  appeal  to  friends  in  the  home 
lands.  A  few  extracts  from  this  letter  will  give 
an  affecting  picture  of  the  conditions  with  which 
this  Mission — together  with  all  others  in  the 
area  of  Western  India — was  confronted.  Mrs 
Fuller  wrote  : — 

"  Hitherto  when  famine  has  been  visited 
upon  India,  years  have  elapsed  before  another 
has  come.  Three  years  ago  the  famine  that 
we  passed  through  was  very  sore,  yet  when 
the  rains  came  in  1898,  we  drew  our  breath 
freely  and  rejoiced  in  what  seemed  returning 
prosperity  to  this  afflicted  land.      Millions  had 

139 


140  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

died,  thousands  of  homes  had  been  broken  up 
for  ever,  thousands  of  hearts  had  been  bitterly- 
bereaved  of  all,  yet  as  soon  as  the  cloud  lifted, 
and  the  first  rays  of  prosperity  began  to  dawn, 
millions  of  people  went  back  to  their  idols,  for- 
getful of  the  hand  of  God  that  had  been  on 
them,  unbroken  and  unhumbled  by  their  awful 
trial.  1898  passed  away,  and  the  hot  season 
of  this  year  was  drawing  to  a  close.  The  rain 
burst  as  usual,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  country 
fell  freely,  but  in  others  the  clouds  soon  rolled 
back,  and  with  the  exception  of  occasional 
showers,  no  more  fell.  Clouds  came  only  to 
be  driven  over  our  heads  by  the  wind,  without 
watering  the  earth.  The  papers  kept  predict- 
ing that  if  rain  came  within  a  certain  period, 
the  crops  would  be  saved.  But  sufficient  rain 
never  came.  The  monsoon  is  practically  over, 
and  the  looked  for  rain  has  not  fallen  ;  the 
tender  shoots  of  the  second  crop  are  yellowing, 
and  will  soon  be  burned  up.  Never  in  any 
land  has  the  constant  bright  sunshine  been  so 
unwelcome,  or  so  mocking  as  in  the  last  two 
months,  and  the  cloud  of  famine,  that  at  first 
was  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  has  grown 
and  spread  till  at  last  the  beginning  of  another 
awful  visitation  is  again  upon  a  large  part  of 
this  beautiful  land. 

"  At  first  I  felt  it  could  not  be  ;  that  the  out- 
look had  been  exaggerated  ;  but  a  trip  of  three 
weeks    through   Gujarat  and    Berar,  our   own 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  141 

mission  field,  has  proved  it  to  be  all  too  true, 
and  appalled  our  hearts  with  the  prospect  of 
the  coming  days.  As  we  passed  through 
Berar  the  other  night  on  our  homeward 
journey,  the  fields  and  land  on  either  side  lay 
flooded  with  the  soft  light  of  the  new  moon. 
Here  and  there  we  could  see  the  light  of  some 
village.  We  were  deeply  moved  as  we  thought 
of  the  suffering  and  anguish  the  same  moon 
would  witness  on  its  returns  in  the  next  few 
months. 

"  As  you  know,  our  work  is  in  two  fields,  in 
which  we  have  sixteen  stations.  Five  of  these 
are  in  Gujarat,  and  eleven  in  the  Marathi 
country,  in  the  provinces  of  Berar  and  Khan- 
deish.  The  famine  is  closing  in  sharply  in 
Gujarat.  In  our  most  northerly  station, 
Viramgaon,  not  a  drop  of  rain  has  fallen  since 
June  26th.  Cattle  have  been  dying  in  large 
numbers.  Gujarat  is  a  rich,  hitherto  prosper- 
ous province,  that  has  not  known  famine  for 
well  on  to  a  hundred  years.  We  have  already 
received  a  number  of  orphans  into  our  two 
orphanages,  which  I  fear  will  be  but  an  earnest 
of  more  to  come.  At  Kaira  a  little  child  was 
found  thrown  away  in  the  river  bed,  and  is  now 
doing  well  in  our  girls'  orphanage.  Sad  as  the 
tokens  of  distress  are  that  are  daily  multiply- 
ing about  us,  they  but  foreshadow  coming  days 
when  the  distress  will  be  many  fold  more. 

"  In  Berar  I  found  the  out-look  intensified 


142  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

by  a  sore  water  famine.  There  has  been  a 
shortage  in  the  rainfall  for  several  years.  Last 
year  the  water  level  was  declared  to  have  sunk 
ten  feet  below  the  normal  level.  As  no  rain 
in  the  natural  course  of  events  can  be  expected 
till  next  June,  the  out-look  for  man  and  beast 
is  appalling.  Some  villages  where  wells  have 
failed  are  already  deserted,  and  as  I  left  the 
province  we  heard  of  the  outbreak  of  cholera 
in  several  villages.  Buldana,  Khamgaon  and 
Amraoti  are  the  most  affected  by  the  scarcity 
of  water  of  all  our  stations.  Dear  Miss  Yoder, 
with  her  large  family  of  orphans,  has  been  in 
great  straits  for  water.  The  mission  well  now 
only  produces  a  few  buckets  of  water  each  day 
for  drinking  purposes,  but  for  the  school  she 
has  to  cart  water.  She  cannot  bring  enough 
for  washing  the  girls'  clothes  and  their  baths, 
so  every  Saturday  A.M.  at  four  o'clock  she  takes 
the  whole  school  to  a  stream  three  miles  away. 
Some  of  the  people  have  said  to  them,  *  You 
say  the  famine  is  sent  because  of  our  sins  and 
idolatry,  now  what  have  you  done  that  you 
have  no  water?'  While  they  were  praying 
for  direction,  a  letter  brought  $35  from  Mr 
Egley  in  Indiana,  which  they  took  as  an 
earnest  for  enough  to  dig  a  new  well.  Other 
gifts  speedily  followed,  and  men  at  famine 
wages  were  employed.  They  got  down  twenty, 
twenty-five  feet,  and  no  water.  A  few  days 
later   they  struck  a  stream   of  running  water 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  143 

which  for  a  time  hindered  the  blasting.  May 
it  indeed  prove  a  permanent  flow — a  lasting 
witness  between  those  who  believe  the  Living 
God  and  those  who  do  not.  God  has  promised 
that  our  bread  and  water  shall  be  sure,  and  we 
never  realised  it  so  fully  as  now. 

"  Oh  the  awful  suffering  that  the  next  few 
months  will  witness  !  At  Christmastide,  dear 
friends,  as  you  thread  the  streets  lined  with 
gay  shops,  as  you  buy  presents  for  those  who 
have  no  need,  as  you  lavish  money  on  costly 
entertainments  and  luxurious  feasts,  would 
that  I  had  the  power  to  lift  space  and  let  you 
witness  the  awful  pinch  and  hunger  and 
suffering  that  millions  of  y^//c?w/-beings  will  be 
suffering  at  the  same  time.  Bear  ye  no 
responsibility,  or  shall  the  vision  fade  away 
like  a  will-o'-the-wisp,  and  you  press  on  in 
comfort  and  luxury?  How  will  it  sound  as 
the  Master  says  in  eternity,  referring  to  this 
same  holiday  season, — *  I  was  a  hungered, 
athirst,  and  naked,  and  ye  heeded  not  ? ' 

"  We  have  decided  to  take  all  orphans  that 
are  brought  to  us  without  regard  to  number, 
and  trust  God  for  future  guidance  and  help 
with  them  ;  to  take  the  children  of  destitute 
widows,  and  of  widowers  who  cannot  work 
on  relief  work,  and  care  for  their  children, 
and  then  at  the  close  of  the  famine,  return 
them  to  the  parents,  and  in  this  way 
keep    families    together.      We   desire   to  help 


144  ^  Life  for  God  in  India 

young  women  and  widows  to  work,  and  tide 
them  through  the  famine  without  their  moral 
ruin,  hoping  to  start  some  industrial  scheme  so 
that  some  of  the  women  can  earn  their  way. 
Beside  suffering  and  death,  a  famine  is  a  great 
calamity  to  the  people  in  many  ways,  they  get 
mendicant  habits,  families  get  broken  up,  while 
to  say  the  least,  it  is  demoralising  for  people 
to  leave  their  homes  and  villages,  and  herd  in 
Poor-houses  and  on  big  Relief  Works.  Before 
the  people  get  emaciated  and  reduced  beyond 
the  power  to  work,  is  the  time  to  help,  but  all 
our  schemes  require  money  to  put  them  in 
execution,  and  out  of  our  own  means  we  are 
unable  to  do  it.  We  wish  to  give  as  little 
gratuitous  help  as  possible.  .  .  . 

"And  last  we  beg  constant  prayer.  Humanly 
speaking  there  is  a  heavy  year  before  India 
with  the  plague  and  famine.  May  prayer  not 
be  made  that  the  people  may  humble  them- 
selves under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  and  turn 
to  Him  in  large  numbers  ?  that  hundreds  may 
not  escape  the  lesson  this  time  ?  Also  that 
the  missionary  may  be  fitted  for  the  hour  and 
opportunity  before  him  :  that  he  may  know 
how  to  bring  the  people  face  to  face  with  God  ; 
that  he  may  be  sustained  in  health  and  kept 
from  the  epidemics  that  are  sure  to  follow. 
We  lost  one  beautiful  missionary  last  famine 
by  cholera.     Remember  us  in  prayer." 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  145 

This  letter  was  followed  by  two  others 
giving  details  of  the  work  as  it  was  accom- 
plished. The  first  bore  good  fruit.  Over 
Rs.  10,000  were  received  for  famine  relief  in 
February  1 900,  and  nearly  as  much  in  January. 
But  the  pressure  on  time  and  strength,  to  Mrs 
Fuller  especially,  became  more  and  more  severe. 
Some  extracts  from  her  third  famine  letter, 
which  was  her  last,  are  intensely  pathetic. 
After  thanking  her  friends  for  the  noble  and 
generous  help  they  had  rendered,  she  gave 
statistics  to  show  that  that  famine  was  the 
worst  with  which  India  had  been  affected  since 
it  came  under  British  rule,  and  told  how  the 
money  sent  was  being  used  on  the  lines  laid 
down  in  the  previous  letters. 

"  Two  of  our  ladies  found  a  child  thrown 
away  in  the  fields,  and  again  the  same  ladies 
found  a  little  girl  thrown  in  a  thorn  hedge. 
You  will  find  her  in  the  orphanage  with  her 
head  still  bound  up  from  the  wounds  the 
thorns  made.  Mr  Andrews  and  I  found  a 
little  girl  deserted  by  the  roadside,  so  stiff  with 
cold  that  we  thought  her  at  first  dead  or  dying. 
We  had  nothing  to  put  around  her  to  warm 
her.  She  was  dirty  and  had  vermin  on  her, 
and  I  must  confess  that  for  a  second  it  cost  a 
struggle  before  I  could  wind  my  dress  skirt 
around  her  and  let  her  share  the  cape  I  wore. 
Mr  Andrews  found  a  woman  apparently  dying 
under   the   bridge  in  the  city.     She  had  two 

K 


146  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

beautiful  children,  that  she  begged  Mr  Andrews 
to  take.  To  their  great  surprise  she  came  to 
the  house  the  next  day,  a  little  better.  By 
degrees  her  timidity  wore  off  and  she  came 
to  stay.  She  was  a  gentle,  sweet-tempered 
woman.  I  said  to  her  playfully,  '  I  suppose 
you  will  be  running  away  soon.'  '  Oh  no/ 
came  the  reply,  '  /  have  come  home  ! '  And  it 
was  a  home-coming  in  a  double  sense,  for  not 
only  was  she  cared  for  by  loving  hearts  as  a 
sister,  but  she  seemed  to  accept  Christ  and  thus 
find  an  Eternal  Home.  She  gradually  failed, 
and  in  dying  whispered  to  Mr  Andrews,  *  Take 
care  of  my  children.' 

"  The  strain  is  yet  a  long  one  before  us. 
How  dark  the  prospect  for  help  looked  in  the 
beginning,  I  cannot  tell  you.  It  would  look 
dark  yet  save  for  the  promises,  and  we  know 
we  shall  not  be  tempted  above  that  we  are 
able. 

"  The  famine  in  Gujarat  was  two  months 
ahead  of  Berar  and  Khandeish  in  severity,  but 
now  the  pinch  there  grows  harder  daily.  But 
the  well  at  Khamgaon  which  we  dug  has  up 
to  date  given  an  abundant  supply  of  water  to 
the  orphanage. 

"  By  the  time  this  letter  reaches  you,  dear 
friends,  the  great  heat  of  the  hot  season  will 
have  begun,  and  we  beg  much  prayer  from  you 
all  for  our  devoted  missionaries,  very  few  of 
whom    will  get  away   to  the  hills    for   much 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  147 

needed  rest.  Some  of  them  were  hardly  rested 
from  last  famine,  and  have  their  furlough  home 
due.  Will  you  be  faithful  to  pray  for  them  ? 
We  now  have  fourteen  mission  stations  involved 
in  famine.  There  is  also  the  danger  of 
epidemics  at  the  relief  works.  Near  Buldana 
recently  in  one  camp  thirty  people  died  in  four 
hours  of  cholera.  In  Gujarat  there  is  an 
epidemic  of  measles.  The  cold  of  the  winter, 
contrary  to  all  expectations,  has  been  very 
severe,  and  influenza  in  some  parts  has  pre- 
vailed. Small-pox  is  breaking  out  in  many 
sections. 

"  We  have  had  a  sore  time  in  Bombay.  In 
seven  weeks  the  whole  number  of  deaths  in  the 
city  rose  to  14,673  ;  as  the  normal  death-rate 
of  the  city  at  its  highest  is  only  500  per  week, 
you  can  see  how  sore  this  has  been.  Beside 
plague,  small-pox  broke  out,  and  in  these 
seven  weeks  1,308  deaths  came  from  this 
dreadful  disease.  There  were  said  to  be  at 
one  time  100,000  famine  refugees  in  the  city, 
which  no  doubt  made  matters  much  worse. 
And  now  a  hush  falls  upon  me,  and  my  pen 
moves  more  slowly  as  I  tell  you  that  our 
precious  Miss  Park,  who  has  been  such  a  stay 
and  help  to  us  in  the  Bombay  Home  for  five 
years,  has  fallen  asleep.  She  contracted 
small-pox,  probably  as  she  went  about  her 
work  in  the  city.  In  fact  none  of  us  can  run 
away  from  it.     Hers  took  the  confluent  form 


148  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

and  early  manifested  fatal  symptoms.  Need  I 
tell  you,  dear  friends,  what  a  sorrow  it  has 
been,  and  for  a  little  the  sun  seemed  darkened, 
but  Jesus  has  given  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning, 
and  the  garment  of  praise  for  a  spirit  of 
heaviness,  and  we  are  glad  for  her  whose  work 
was  thus  so  early  finished.  She  laboured 
largely  among  the  Jews  in  the  city. 

''  And  now  again  I  beg  prayer,  that  God  may 
keep  your  beloved  missionaries,  and  that  His 
will  may  be  fully  wrought  out  in  this  heavy 
judgment.  Never  before  in  the  many  years 
I  have  been  in  India  have  I  faced  so  dark 
an  hour.  Never  before  perhaps  have  I  been 
more  hopeful.  God  is  at  work.  It  took 
ten  judgments  on  the  rich,  prosperous  land 
of  Egypt  before  they  heard  God's  voice.  Pray 
that  we  His  servants  may  keep  above  it  all, 
working  in  fellowship  with  God,  until  righteous- 
ness come  to  many  thousands.  Pray,  pray^ 
PRAY,  dear  friends,  for  dear  India,  as  you 
have  never  prayed  before.  He  reigns.  His 
purposes  for  this  great  idolatrous  land  are 
ripening  fast.  And  pray  for  us  and  forget 
not  our  need.  *  Whatsoever  He  saith  unto 
you,  do  it.'" 

This  weighty  message  was  a  fitting  close  to 
a  life  of  service  for  the  Lord.  Before  it 
reached  the  friends  in  America,  to  whom  it 
was  mainly  addressed,  its  writer  was  laid  low. 
She    suffered     severely     from    an     attack    of 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  149 

influenza,  and  felt  much  worn  and  very  weary, 
and  was  hoping  to  be  able  to  take  a  little  rest. 
But  cholera  broke  out  in  Khamgaon,  some  of 
the  missionaries  were  attacked,  and  Mrs  Fuller 
put  her  own  feelings  aside,  and  went  to  their 
relief  In  her  enfeebled  condition  she  took 
the  infection,  and  was  brought  to  the  gates  of 
death.  At  one  time  she  was  thought  to  be 
dying,  but  rallied,  and  was  taken  to  Bombay, 
where  every  loving  care  was  bestowed  upon 
her.  But  lung  and  heart  complications 
ensued,  followed  by  dropsy,  and  she  lingered, 
only  to  suffer.  For  many  years  Mrs  Fuller 
had  known  the  Lord  as  her  healer,  and  had 
given  many  precious  testimonies  to  His  power 
over  the  human  body,  manifested  in  answer  to 
prayer.  But,  during  this  sickness,  she  said  she 
was  "  unable  to  touch  God  for  healing."  She 
lived  thirteen  weeks  after  the  attack  of  cholera 
at  Khamgaon.  At  times  her  husband  and 
other  watching  friends  felt  hopeful  that  her 
life  would  be  spared,  but  this  was  not  to  be. 
The  Lord  saw  best  to  take  her  to  Himself 
Her  life  work  was  finished,  and  she  was  glad 
to  be  "  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better."  Her 
tired  body  was  laid  to  rest  amid  the  luxuriant 
verdure  of  the  tropics,  in  the  lovely  Sewree 
Cemetery.  Grief  at  her  loss  was  sincere  and 
widespread.  Every  Protestant  mission  in  Bom- 
bay was  represented  at  her  funeral.  European 
and  Indian  Christian  young  men  shared   the 


ijo  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

privilege  of  carrying  her  body  to  its  last 
resting  place,  there  to  remain  only  "Till  He 
come." 

Tributes  to  her  memory  poured  in  from  all 
classes  in  India.  Extracts  from  letters  and 
testimonies  of  personal  friends  are  given  in  the 
following  chapter.  Among  those  printed  in 
newspapers,  one  or  two  may  be  specially 
mentioned.  The  Y.M.C.A.  Monthly  of 
Bombay  said :  "  It  is  not  given  to  many 
women  to  exercise  a  strong  hold  over  young 
men,  but  when  the  announcement  was  made 
that  Mrs  Fuller  would  speak  at  a  young 
men's  meeting,  not  only  was  no  incongruity 
felt,  but  a  good  meeting  was  confidently 
anticipated.  Her  transparent  earnestness 
constrained  the  attention,  attracted  by  the 
transparent  ease  and  fluency  of  her  diction, 
impressed  with  the  reasonableness  of  her 
thoughts,  disarmed  by  the  loving  tenderness 
with  which  she  set  forth  stern  unbending 
truths,  young  men  could  not  but  acknowledge 
her  right  to  a  hearing.  Bombay  has  lost  one  of 
its  best  speakers  to  young  men  ;  the  Christian 
Church,  one  of  the  noblest  of  its  workers." 

A  Brahmin  Pandit,  not  a  Christian,  who 
served  under  Mrs  Fuller  in  translation  work, 
and  in  the  tuition  of  Alliance  missionaries  in 
Marathi,  wrote  :  "  She  was  one  of  the  few 
persons  who   could   reach   the    hearts    of  the 


A  Life  for  God  in  India  151 

people  of  this  country,  and  consider  themselves 
as  one  of  them.  .  .  .  Wherever  she  went, 
either  among  educated  or  uneducated  classes 
of  the  people,  she  was  liked  by  all.  The  one 
quality  that  made  her  so,  was  the  deep  and 
real  interest  she  showed  and  felt  for  the  people. 
Her  heart  was  full  of  love  for  them.  .  .  .  She 
also  fully  understood  how  to  touch  others 
at  the  point  of  sympathy.  This  does  not  mean 
that  she  would  shrink  from  being  at  issue  with 
anybody  on  account  of  her  opinions.  She  had 
independent  thoughts,  and  was  courageous 
enough  to  give  out  her  convictions,  but  I 
always  marked  that  she  never  forced  me  at 
the  start  to  put  myself  over  against  her  for  a 
contest.  This  is  the  secret  of  influencing 
others  to  see  as  we  do." 

Mr  Malabari,  a  non-Christian  social  re- 
former in  Bombay,  writing  in  his  paper,  the 
Indian  Spectator^  made  a  note  on  her  death 
which  illustrates  what  the  above  writer  states, 
as  to  her  method  of  meeting  everybody  at  the 
point  of  sympathy.  Mr  Malabari  wrote : 
"  Never  was  the  proximity  of  a  great  historical 
movement  brought  home  more  forcibly  than 
when  Mrs  Fuller  said  that  she  had,  as  a  child, 
met  William  Lloyd  Garrison  on  his  visits  to 
her  parents.  *  Except  ye  become  ...  as 
little  children,'  said  the  Master,  pointing  to  a 
group  of  children,  '  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.'       Mrs   Fuller  lived   up 


152  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

to  the  precept.  She  was  a  truly  Christian 
woman,  with  a  faith  in  her  Saviour  that  was 
very  touching.  She  threw  herself,  heart  and 
soul,  into  her  work,  for  the  orphans  especially, 
and  lived  for  it.  Not  a  few,  who  were  neither 
of  her  race  nor  creed,  will  miss  the  kindly 
presence  and  earnest  conversation  of  the 
deceased  lady." 

These  extracts  give  the  clue  to  why  Mrs 
Fuller  was,  as  the  Bombay  Guardian  said, 
"  the  best  known  woman  missionary  in  Western 
India,  and  the  best  loved." 


APPENDIX 

I.  TESTIMONIES  FROM  FAR  AND 
NEAR 

Sympathising  letters  poured  in  when  it  was 
known  that  the  Home  call  had  released  the 
dear  sufferer  from  the  bonds  of  earth  and 
flesh.  The  One  Spirit  sought  to  pour  comfort 
into  the  wounded  and  bereaved  heart  of  her 
husband  by  a  multitude  of  earthly  channels. 
No  formal  condolences  these.  The  joy  to 
which  she  had  attained  ;  the  blank  her  absence 
would  be  to  her  friends  ;  the  power  of  the 
Lord  to  comfort  and  heal,  and  personal  testi- 
monies of  blessing  received  through  the  life  so 
lived  for  God,  was  the  burden  of  their  message, 
whether  they  came  from  friends  throughout 
India,  America,  or  even  from  China.  The 
following  extracts  are  selected  as  showing  what 
the  influence  was  that  made  her  removal  so 
widely  felt.  They  are  testimonies  from  out- 
siders, members  of  many  different  denomina- 
tions ;  none  of  the  writers  in  this  section  being 
connected  with  the  Christian  Alliance. 

IS3 


154  -A  Lif^  fo^  Go<i  in  India 


FROM    MISSIONARIES    IN    INDIA 

"It  is  more  than  twenty-one  years  since  I 
first  met  your  dear  wife.  We  often  did  not 
meet  for  quite  an  interval,  but  each  time  I 
found  her  ever  the  same,  so  loving  and  so 
sweet.  ...  I  do  praise  God  for  all  He  did 
through  her.  Surely  some  of  us  will  be  stimu- 
lated the  more  to  serve  Him,  because  He  has 
taken  her  home."^ — C.  S.  P.,  Bombay, 

"  Surely  the  people  of  India  have  lost  in  her 
one  of  their  sincerest  friends.  And  yet,  some- 
how, the  word  '  lost '  seems  out  of  place.  May 
we  not  at  least  hope  that  in  some  way  her 
influence  is  still  going  forth  on  their  behalf. 
Hers  was  no  ordinary  missionary's  life  and 
work.  She  not  only  worked  for  the  heathen 
herself,  but  her  sweet  simple  life  was  a  con- 
tinual inspiration  to  other  missionaries  to  be 
more  wholly  devoted.  .  .  .  When  we  gathered 
at  '  Berachah '  on  Thursday,  my  one  cry  to 
God  was  that  He  would  enable  me  to  live 
closer  to  Him,  and  be  more  devoted  to  His 
service." — T.  A.  B.,  Bombay, 

"  What  a  blessed  testimony  she  has  left 
behind  her  !  I  know  many  will  praise  God  for 
the  example  of  her  wholly  consecrated  and 
devoted  life." — C.  D.  G.,  Bombay. 


Appendix  155 

"  Those  few  times  I  heard  dear  Mrs  Fuller 
speak  are  deeply  impressed  on  heart  and 
memory.  I  feel  I  have  personally  lost  a  most 
kind  friend  ;  and  in  her  zeal  and  love  for  the 
Master  may  I  have  grace  so  to  follow  her  good 
example." — G.  H.  H.,  Bombay. 

"  She  is  at  Home,  and  we  shall  soon  be  there ; 
in  the  meantime  I  praise  God  for  the  inspiration 
her  holy  consistent  life  has  been  to  me.  It  has 
many  times  been  an  object  lesson  to  see  how  she 
humbled  herself  under  God's  hands,  and  let  her- 
self be  disciplined  by  Him  in  the  trials  and 
difficulties  that  came  to  her.  I  am  sure  that 
many  are  to-day  blessed  and  useful  workers  in 
His  vineyard,  owing  to  the  way  she  laboured 
in  prayer  and  believed  for  them  till  they  came 
out  into  rest  and  victory.  She  was  a  true 
mother  in  Israel ;  may  we  follow  her  as  she 
followed  Christ.  We  know  that  more  than 
ever  your  sufficiency  will  be  of  GOD,  who  will 
not  fail  you,  but  is  enabling  you  to  glorify 
Him.  In  view  of  the  Lord's  near  coming,  who 
can  tell  how  much  all  this  means." — H.  R.,^ 
Bombay. 

"  I  praise  God  I  ever  knew  her.  May  we  seek 
to  live  as  truly  for  God  as  she  did.  She  had 
this  testimony  that  she  pleased  God.      Almost 

^  Helen  Richardson  passed  within   the   veil  one  year  after 
Mrs  Fuller. 


156  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

the  last  talk  we  had  together  before  1  left  Bom- 
bay, speaking  of  Miss  Park,  she  said  :  '  I  envy 
her.  Oh,  it  will  be  lovely  to  get  Home.'  There 
was  a  longing  in  her  tone  that  made  me  feel 
how  truly  she  looked  forward  to  that  time." — 
L.  L.,  Rangoon, 

"  I  owe  very  much  to  dear  Mrs  Fuller's 
counsel,  and  her  sympathy  at  all  times.  When- 
ever I  saw  her  I  saw  some  manifestation  of  the 
life  of  the  Master,  His  humility  and  selflessness 
and  kindness." — M.  W.  M.,  Poona. 

"  We  will  push  on  with  the  work  she  has  left, 
devoting  ourselves  yet  more  fully  to  God.  It 
seems  so  strange  that  God  should  take  one  so 
well  fitted  for  work,  and  doing  it  so  well.  But 
He  will  help  us  who  are  left  to  carry  on  the 
great  work  in  His  name  and  strength.  We  are 
filled  with  sorrow  for  you,  but  rejoice  for  our 
glorified  sister." — D.  O.  and  E.  W.  F.,  Poona, 

"  From  the  time  your  wife  first  came  to  our 
home  in  Ellichpur  at  the  beginning  of  1877, 
we  have  felt  an  interest  in  her  perhaps  greater 
than  in  any  other  servant  of  the  Lord  with  whom 
we  were  permitted  to  have  fellowship.  And  now 
she  has  gone  to  her  exceeding  great  reward  !  I 
feel  that  in  departing  she  could  say  as  but  few 
of  Christ's  servants  in  these  days  could  :   *  I 


Appendix  157 

have  fought  a  good  fight ;  I  have  finished  my 
course  ;  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness ! ' 
May  God  help  us  all  to  follow  her  as  she  followed 
the  Master." — A.  N.,  Dhond. 

"  The  world  will  to  very  many  of  us  seem 
for  ever  the  poorer  for  the  loss  of  one  who  was 
indeed  a  power  wherever  she  went." — M.  T., 
Ahmedabad. 

"  Mrs  Fuller  will  be  much  missed  by  all  who 
knew  her  in  this  and  other  lands.  I  thank  God 
I  had  the  privilege  of  making  her  acquaintance 
personally  last  year,  as  I  had  before  done  by 
reading  articles  from  her  pen.  Her  articles  on 
Indian  womanhood  I  read  with  great  interest 
and  profit." — J.  J.,  Sangli. 

"  We  have  just  been  studying  in  Romans  ix. 
of  the  sovereignty  of  God,  and  this  seemed  to 
come  to  show  us  that  His  way  is  beyond  our 
ken,  that  He  will  not  have  us  lay  down  any 
laws  for  Him.  We  can  only  say  :  '  Lo  these 
are  parts  of  His  ways.'  Some  day  we  will  be 
able  to  read  the  other  side.  What  an  abundant 
entrance  she  must  have  had.  I  do  hope  God's 
people  will  give  Him  alone  the  glory  for  all  the 
answers  to  prayer  which  He  has  granted  in  the 
past  three  months  of  illness,  and  all  her  life 
long." — M.  H.,  Kodaikanal. 


158  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

"  We  had  hoped  that  God  would  spare  her 
to  you  and  to  us  and  to  many  others.  But 
He  required  her  elsewhere,  her  training  was 
complete,  and  so  she  was  transferred  to  higher 
service.  We  are  still  at  college,  but  she  has 
graduated  and  passed  out,  or  rather  passed  in." 
— R.  J.  W.,  Coonoor, 

"  Mrs  Fuller  has  been  a  great  blessing  to 
my  soul.  I  was  always  glad  to  meet  her. 
Her  visit  to  us  at  Sanand  was  a  great  blessing 
to  me." — A.  S.,  Coonoor. 


OTHER    FRIENDS    IN    INDIA 

"  I  cannot  refrain  from  writing  to  express 
the  very  sincere  regret  that  I  feel  at  the  loss 
to  you  and  to  your  children  and  the  Christian 
Church  of  one  so  earnest  and  so  taught  of 
God.  I  had  the  great  pleasure  of  meeting 
your  wife  at  my  cousin's  house  in  Bombay 
when  she  was  Miss  Frow.  ...  I  have  ever 
had  the  encouraging  recollection  of  Miss  Frow's 
faith  in  God  at  that  time.  The  remembrance 
of  her  trust  in  Christ  is  a  great  savour." — 
G.  W.,  Murree. 

"  The  loss  is  not  yours  only,  but  one  in 
which  many  will  share,  and  will  sorrow  not 
only  out  of  sympathy  with  you,  but  from  a 


Appendix  1 59 

sense  of  personal   bereavement." — G.   C.  W., 
Bangalore. 

"  Eternity  will  alone  reveal  the  worth  and 
fragrance  of  the  beautiful  Christ-life  lived  by 
dear  Mrs  Fuller.  And  how  many  poor  Indian 
Christians  are  personally  poorer  by  her  trans- 
lation. I  cried  as  though  I  had  lost  my  very 
own  sister  of  flesh  and  blood  on  hearing  the 
news.  Never  did  I  meet  or  have  a  few  words 
with  her  but  with  an  uplifting  influence  and 
effect.  Thanks  be  unto  God  for  such  a  life. 
Words  are  poor  comforters.  It  is  only  *  Till 
He  come.' " — F.  L.  R.,  Bangalore. 

"  The  loss  was  not  yours  only,  it  was  such 
a  loss  to  the  world.  My  wife  wants  to  see 
you  to  get  from  you,  if  you  have  it,  the  MSS. 
of  Mrs  Fuller's  life  of  Mr  Finney  [in  Marathi]. 
She  had  begun  it  several  years  ago.  I  trans- 
lated some  chapters,  too.  If  you  do  not  find 
the  MSS.  send  me  the  book  from  which  Mrs 
Fuller  was  writing  the  Life.  I  will  translate 
such  portions  as  I  think  fit,  in  memory  of  the 
dear  sister." — S.  R.  M.,  Ahmednagar. 


TESTIMONY    FROM    WESTERN    LANDS 

"  What  a   perfect  benediction  her  life  was. 
She  was  an  ideal  Gospel  Christian,  rejoicing  in 


i6o  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

the  true  sense  always,  and  giving  God  thanks 
from  the  depths  of  her  heart.  I  count  it  one 
of  the  rare  privileges  of  my  life  to  have  seen 
and  known  her  as  I  did.  She  has  been  a 
great  spiritual  help  to  me.  Eternity  alone 
will  reveal  what  the  Lord  has  wrought  through 
her  perfectly  yielded  spirit  to  His  will." — 
C.  F.  H.,  Brooklyn, 

"  So  powerful  was  her  influence  that  even 
the  great  distance  that  was  so  much  of  the 
time  between  us  did  not  seem  to  me  to 
separate  us.  Truly  she  was  one  of  the  most 
beloved  of  our  Blessed  Master's  disciples,  one 
of  the  dearest  to  our  Father's  heart  of  all  His 
children.  A  martyr's  glorious  reward  is  hers." 
— S.  P.  K.,  New  York. 

"Sister  Fuller  was  such  an  institution  in 
Bombay.  Her  cheery,  kind  presence,  and 
above  all  her  very  spiritual  and  instructive 
addresses  will  be  greatly  missed.  This  applies 
to  all  the  churches,  for  she  was  welcome  in 
all  our  circles,  and  as  a  worker  seemed  one 
who  could  ill  be  spared." — J.  M.,  London, 

"  The  fragrance  of  her  memory  will  live 
long,  not  only  through  her  kindly  deeds  and 
loving  helpful  words,  but  her  pen  will  enable 
her    to    speak   to   the    hearts   of   friends   and 


Appendix  i6i 

strangers,  and  will,  as  the  years  go  by,  bring 
many  to  Jesus." — J.  K.  T.,  Toronto. 

"  She  was  a  remarkable  woman,  especially 
suited  for  the  work  of  a  missionary.  Her 
gifts  were  great  and  her  wisdom  to  guide  and 
suggest  equally  so.  She  had  much  power  as 
a  writer.  I  always  stopped  to  read  all  over 
her  signature,  and  never  was  disappointed  in 
its  interest.  But  more  than  all  was  her  entire 
consecration  and  sweet  personality." — S.  E.  O., 
New  York, 

"  We  remember  her  kindly  words,  her 
earnest  faith  and  the  immeasurable  zeal  and 
love  for  the  Master's  work  she  so  continually 
manifested." — G.  P.  T.,  Paterson,  New  Jersey. 

"Not  many  deaths,  so  far  as  I  can  now 
recall,  outside  of  our  own  family  circle,  have 
affected  my  wife  so  deeply  as  this  bereave- 
ment. She  had  learned  to  love  Sister  Fuller 
dearly,  and  she  appreciated  her  character  in 
all  of  its  various  aspects.  I  had  known  her 
for  many  years,  and  it  is  perhaps  the  highest 
praise  I  could  give  her  to  say  that  in  all  my 
recollections  of  her  the  most  prominent  feature 
has  been  her  Christian  character." — Bishop  J. 
M.  Thoburn,  Lake  Bluff,  III. 

"  As  I  wrote  in  an  article  which  will  appear 

L 


1 62  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

in  T/te  Christian  Herald  next  week,  so  I  say 
now :  That  as  Mrs  Fuller  went  up  and  into 
the  presence  of  her  Lord,  her  first  petition 
was  for  the  dear  people  for  whose  conversion 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  death  to  life, 
she  consecrated  her  talents,  her  time,  her  life. 
My  only  regret  is  that  when  we  met  at  your 
house  and  she  was  ill  in  an  adjoining  room, 
that  I  did  not  press  more  urgently  my  desire 
to  see  her — and  yet,  perhaps,  it  is  best  as  it 
is." — Dr  Louis  Klopsch,  Proprietor,  New 
York   Christian  Herald. 

"About  the  same  time,  the  week  your 
beloved  one  fell  asleep,  we  were  called  out 
by  the  Spirit  here  in  our  Prayer  Union  to 
unite  for  a  week  together  in  prayer  for  you 
and  yours.  We  know  God  heard  and  answered 
and  all  is  well.  It  will  be  a  great  sorrow  to 
many  who  hear  of  your  bereavement,  but  this 
sorrow  will  be  made  to  abound  most  fruitfully 
as  we  look  toward  the  fulfilling  of  the  Blessed 
Hope. 

"  I  had  long  thought  of  writing  to  you  and 
Sister  Fuller  about  an  article  she  published 
in  the  spring  or  early  summer  of  1894  on 
"  The  Ministry  of  Prayer."  The  Lord  used  it 
to  call  me  to  this  ministry  which  has  resulted 
in  the  PENTECOSTAL  Prayer  Union,  the 
influence  of  which  is  reaching  out  increasingly 
into  all   the  earth.     The  fruits  of  it  here   in 


Appendix  163 

Los  Angelos  can  never  be  estimated.  Only 
yesterday  there  came  into  my  hand  an  address 
delivered  before  the  Ministerial  Union  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  San  Francisco,  which 
address  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  on  the 
subject  I  have  ever  seen.  This  had  its  spring 
in  the  work  last  winter  in  this  city — and  all 
had  its  rise  in  that  call  through  Sister  Fuller 
in  1894.  I  have  often  borne  testimony  to 
this,  and  I  pray  that  God  will  multiply  it." — 
H.  C.  Waddell,  Editor  oi Prayer ^  Los  AngeloSy 
California, 


II.  FROM   ALLIANCE    MISSIONARIES 
IN  INDIA 

Mrs  Jessie  Simmons 

How  we  miss  our  dear  Sister  Fuller. 
Loving  service  was  the  keynote  of  her  life. 
All  her  unusual  gifts  of  mind  and  heart  were 
at  the  service  of  others.  Both  in  our  mission 
homes  and  in  the  work  at  large  her  chief  aim 
in  life  was  to  be  a  humble  instrument  in  God's 
bands  to  be  used  of  Him  freely.  To  my 
knowledge  she  never  made  her  weakness  of 
body  an  excuse  for  refusing  work  of  any  kind 
which    she  believed   was   sent   of  God.     She 


164  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

knew  the  blessed  secret  of  taking  life  from 
Jesus  day  by  day,  and  was  a  testimony  to 
God's  keeping  power. 

Her  faith  in  God  was  mighty,  and  her  keen 
and  wise  insight  and  forethought  in  matters 
concerning  our  work  made  her  an  invaluable 
counsellor.  She  was  always  reaching  out  for 
even  wider  lines  of  usefulness,  and  being  a 
clear  thinker  and  able  writer,  she  translated  and 
wrote  many  valuable  books.  She  lived  an  un- 
selfish life,  and  was  always  happiest  when  she 
saw  others  reaching  out  and  growing  in  grace. 

Her  love  for  the  native  Christians  was 
marvellous.  She  longed  to  see  a  real  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  them,  realising 
how  much  God  could  use  them  among  their 
own  people.  This  was  the  burden  of  her 
prayer  ;   may  ours  be  the  re-echo  of  it. 

We  know  not  why  God  has  taken  such  an 
able  and  useful  life.  But  we  bow  our  heads 
and  say  "  Thy  will  be  done,"  and  cry  out  for 
her  mantle  to  fall  upon  us. 

Mrs  Carrie  Bates  Rogers 

My  husband  and  I  went  to  see  her  near 
the  beginning  of  her  last  illness.  She  could 
scarcely  speak  above  a  whisper,  and  that  with 
difficulty.  Her  first  words  to  us  were  inquiries 
as  to  what  we  were  to  do  for  the  hot  season, 
and  hoping  we  should  be  comfortable. 


Appendix  1 65 

Later  on,  when  we  brought  her  to  our 
temporary  home  at  Igatpuri,  in  the  intervals 
between  her  times  of  physical  anguish,  her  mind 
would  go  out  as  usual  to  the  dear  missionaries 
and  their  needs  in  those  famine  days,  and  she 
would  try  to  plan  ways  by  which  she  hoped 
one  and  another  might  be  able  to  get  away 
from  their  stations  for  a  little  change  and  rest. 

She  had  a  dainty  doll's  cot,  with  furnish- 
ings, which  she  wished  our  little  girls  to  have. 
She  had  it  brought  to  her  that  she  might  per- 
sonally see  that  all  was  in  spotless  order,  and 
took  keen  delight  in  thinking  of  the  pleasure  it 
would  afford  them. 

She  had  a  rare  gift  of  clear,  forcible  exposi- 
tion of  Scripture,  always  weaving  in  so  much 
of  heart  experience  that  her  teachings  went 
from  her  own  heart  down  deep  into  the  hearts 
of  her  hearers.  How  we  miss  her,  words  cannot 
express.     "  Her  works  do  follow  her." 

Mrs  Martha  Ramsey 

Our  first  meeting  with  dear  Mrs  Fuller 
was  after  the  Board  had  accepted  us  for 
India  in  1892,  when,  in  the  Berachah  Home 
parlour.  New  York,  she  advised  us  as  to  outfits, 
etc.  Her  simple  motherly  way  drew  us  to  her 
at  once,  and  her  frankness  in  every  detail  of 
the  conversation  gave  us  respect  for  her.  .  .  . 
These  two  qualities  ever  seemed  to  us  to  charac- 


1 66  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

terise  her,  and  we  say  with  gratitude  this  love 
and  respect  never  lessened  one  whit,  and  now 
that  she  is  gone,  they  are  only  increased  by 
many  precious  memories  of  her  thoughtfulness 
and  wise  counsel. 

During  that  interview  we  in  our  zeal  ex- 
pressed our  longing  to  reach  the  women  of 
India  with  the  Gospel  message,  and  we  have 
never  forgotten  the  answer,  "  When  you  get 
there  they  won't  want  you."  In  her  talks  to 
intending  missionaries  she  avoided  the  sensa- 
tional, and  always  held  a  high  standard  of 
motive ;  in  fact,  at  times  her  faithfulness  would 
almost  seem  to  discourage,  but  we  have  praised 
God  again  and  again  since  being  on  the  field, 
and  meeting  with  the  difficulties,  that  she  was 
so  true. 

Her  presence  on  the  voyage  from  London 
was  a  blessing.  Often  weak  in  body,  but 
drawing  strength  from  the  Lord,  she  never 
failed  both  in  the  daily  Bible-readings  and  in 
her  walk  and  conversation,  to  inspire  our  little 
party  with  fresh  determination  to  be  true  in 
the  service  to  which  God  had  called  us,  and 
also  with  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  the  Second 
Coming  of  our  blessed  Redeemer. 

How  much  we  owe  to  her  under  God  for 
help  in  every  way  as  young  missionaries,  and 
in  the  language !  She  did  for  us  what  no 
Brahmin  pundit  would  have  known  how  to 
do.     We  remember  how,  standing  out  of  sight, 


Appendix  167 

as  we  recited  with  the  teacher,  she  would  get 
to  know  our  difficulties,  and  set  to  solving  them 
at  the  first  opportunity,  but  in  such  a  kind  way 
that  one  hardly  knew  till  it  was  done.  Later 
on,  after  little  Robbie  "  fell  asleep "  (as  she 
used  to  say),  she  took  us  all  in  a  class,  and 
helped  us  out  of  our  difficulties  in  Marathi. 

Her  interest  in  each  one  individually  was 
always  so  kindly  expressed  ;  forgetful  of  her- 
self she  would  plan  for  others  as  if  they  were 
her  own  children.  A  visit  from  her  was  always 
looked  forward  to  with  pleasure,  and  the  savour 
of  the  teaching  she  would  give  from  God's 
Word  lingered  long  after  she  had  left  us,  not 
that  she  always  said  sweet  things,  for  she  was 
faithful  to  show  us  our  faults  and  mistakes. 

We  have  seen  her  on  her  face  in  prayer 
more  than  once  for  guidance  or  victory  along 
a  certain  line.  The  last  time  but  one  in  our 
home,  God,  in  answer  to  her  effectual  fervent 
prayer,  raised  up  a  beloved  sister  from  what 
seemed  almost  the  gates  of  death,  to  take  the 
journey  to  Bombay,  and  from  that  time  it  was 
victory  to  that  dear  one  ;  but  no  one  would 
have  known  who  had  not  seen  the  wrestling 
in  prayer,  that  dear  Mrs  Fuller  was  more  than 
ordinarily  exercised  ;  then  on  the  journey  she 
spent  much  of  the  night  on  her  face  in  prayer, 
and  God  preciously  answered. 

Her  last  visit  to  us  was  less  than  two 
months   before    her   illness    began,    when    she 


1 68  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

was  so  interested  in  the  famine  work,  and  so 
anxious  lest  we  fall  short  of  God's  thought 
for  the  people.  One  of  her  messages  then 
was  that  as  Moses  was  as  God  to  the  Israel- 
ites, so  we  were  to  be  at  this  time  to  those 
whom  God  would  call  out  for  His  Name. 
Her  favourite  hymn  just  then  was  : — 

"  Taking  life  from  Jesus, 
Freely  day  by  day, 
*  ^  * 

Life  and  strength  receiving, 
All  our  pilgrim  way." 

This  she  was  literally  doing — taking  life  step 
by  step. 

At  her  request  I  accompanied  her  to  Bul- 
(3ana,  a  station  twenty-eight  miles  off  the 
railway,  and  I  shall  always  be  thankful  for 
the  experience  of  that  journey  with  her.  The 
seats  on  the  mail  tonga  were  engaged,  and  it 
didn't  seem  as  if  we  could  get  bullocks  for 
that  day.  She  longed  to  go  home,  for  she 
was  tired,  but  felt  God  wanted  her  to  go  and 
see  the  dear  missionaries  at  Buldana,  so  in 
answer  to  prayer  the  bullocks  came,  and  we 
started  off  late  in  the  afternoon,  hoping  to 
reach  our  destination  about  midnight.  How- 
ever, as  so  often  is  the  case,  there  was  difficulty 
in  getting  change  of  bullocks  at  the  different 
stages,  notwithstanding  that  a  friend  of  Mrs 
Fuller's,  a  Christian  Government  official,  had 
sent  his  servant  all  the  way  to  help ;    so  it 


Appendix  169 

was  past  four  in  the  morning  when  we  arrived 
at  the  bungalow.  Not  one  word  of  complaint 
passed  her  lips,  nothing  but  praise  to  God  all 
the  way,  and  as  she  paid  the  different  drivers, 
she  always  gave  as  much  over  the  Government 
rates  as  would  make  up  for  the  extra  price  of 
fodder  in  the  scarcity,  but  gave  it  in  such  a 
way  that  the  man  would  be  encouraged,  and 
not  as  a  charity. 

Her  shawl  was  heavier  than  mine  and  the 
night  was  bitterly  cold,  so  she  cunningly  said, 
"Your  shawl  is  smooth  and  mine  is  rough, 
and  I  don't  like  it  so  well.  Let  me  take 
yours,"  just  that  I  might  be  comfortable. 

She  was  needed  in  Bombay,  so  began  the 
return  journey  that  same  afternoon  on  the 
mail  tonga.  That  was  the  last  time  we  saw 
her  in  health. 

Before  her  Home-going  I  was  privileged  to 
spend  a  few  days  with  her,  and  although  in 
pain  and  weakness  she  still  had  the  same 
love  for  the  work  and  the  missionaries,  and 
would  speak  of  both  again  and  again. 

It  did  seem  as  if  she  was  needed  here,  but 
God  knew  best,  and  as  she  said  one  day,  "  If 
I  am  to  go,  you  dear  ones  must  just  take  it 
that  my  work  is  finished." 

We  miss  her,  oh,  so  much,  and  often  long 
for  her  counsel  and  her  prayers,  but  would  not 
call  her  back  if  we  might,  for  her  work  here 
was  finished,   but   there    "  His    servants    shall 


170  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

serve   Him,"  and   still    she  "being  dead    yet 
speaketh." 


Mrs  Blanche  Hamilton 

Although  labouring  for  many  years  in 
Berar,  India,  and  being  specially  called  to  work 
among  the  Marathi  people,  yet  no  one  felt 
more  an  interest  or  burden  for  the  work  in 
Gujarat  than  she.  Six  years  ago  a  party  of 
eleven  entered  Gujarat  when  the  Alliance 
work  was  new,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  tell 
how  much  her  prayers  and  occasional  visits  to 
this  field  meant  to  us  and  to  the  people. 
What  a  help  she  was  in  every  way  in  all  the 
trials  accompanying  pioneering — learning  a 
new  language,  becoming  accustomed  to  the 
people  and  their  ways,  with  no  one  of  the 
party  experienced — may  never  be  fully  known. 

Since  called  to  her  reward,  many  of  her 
earnest  prayers  and  steps  taken  by  faith  for  the 
work  in  Gujarat  have  been  realised.  During 
one  visit  to  this  field,  God  seemed  to  give  her 
an  enlarged  vision  for  the  work,  and  she  was  so 
impressed  by  it  that  she  called  us  all  together 
and  gave  it  under  the  beautiful  Bible  lesson  of 
Ezekiel's  river  vision.  Although  at  the  time 
there  was  not  one  convert,  she  seemed  to  see 
the  work  spreading  and  reaching  out  over  a 
long    strip   of  country  down   to  the  sea.       It 


Appendix  171 

seemed  so  impossible,  but  we  have  watched 
God's  plans  unfolding  until  we  have  seen  that 
vision  fulfilled.  The  first  to  come  into  the 
light  was  a  poor  woman  who  was  covered  with 
sores  and  at  times  was  possessed  of  a  devil. 
The  evil  spirit  was  cast  out — and  she  was 
partially  restored  to  health,  and  later  on  her 
face  used  to  light  up  with  joy  on  hearing  Jesus' 
name.  The  Christians  now  number  about  400, 
besides  a  girls'  orphanage  of  360,  and  one  for 
boys  at  Dholka  numbering  about  400. 

In  trying  to  recall  some  of  the  many  touch- 
ing incidents  that  time  fails  to  erase,  it  seems 
as  if  she  could  not  have  been  more  one  with 
us  ;  she  shared  our  joys  and  sorrows  in  such  a 
measure  that  her  departure  seemed  like  a  great 
prop  being  removed.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
enough  of  her  loving,  tender  sympathy.  One 
afternoon  while  busy  with  the  study  of  the 
language,  things  began  to  grow  dark,  and  before 
night  dear  Miss  Montgomery  and  myself  were 
down  with  cholera.  We  felt  so  much  the  need 
of  her  prayers  that  a  telegram  was  sent  im- 
mediately to  Berachah  Home,  Bombay,  and 
instead  of  simply  praying  for  us  there,  she  left 
at  once  for  Gujarat.  Soon  after  her  arrival 
she  gave  a  Bible-reading  that  brought  fresh 
courage,  and  later  on  deliverance  ;  my  life  was 
spared  for  further  years  of  precious  service. 
Miss  M.  was  called  to  a  higher  service  above, 
and  a  touching  little  incident  transpired  as  she 


172  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

was  being  carried  out  of  the  compound  for 
interment  in  Bishop  Heber's  churchyard.  A 
crowd  of  native  women  came  over  weeping 
from  the  camp  near  by  ;  although  not  able  to 
speak  Gujarati,  yet,  as  always,  Mrs  Fuller 
could  not  refrain  from  turning  everything  to 
God's  glory.  She  talked  to  them  of  heaven 
(through  an  interpreter)  with  such  earnestness 
that  to  this  day,  six  years  later,  they  often 
speak  of  it.  It  was  literally  true  that  she 
"  sowed  beside  all  waters." 

When  the  famine  began  in  Gujarat  she  was 
still  one  of  the  first  to  advise  and  help.  Many 
were  the  messages  of  power  given  to  the 
women,  and  she  understood  their  need  and 
hearts  as  few  do.  Having  to  talk  through  an 
ii  terpreter  she  at  last  began  to  study  Gujarati. 
Her  efforts  were  untiring,  though  her  other 
labours  were  great,  and  we  rejoiced  to  think 
she  would  soon  be  able  to  give  our  women 
some  of  her  loving  messages  of  power  in  the 
vernacular,  but  ere  the  time  came  she  was 
transplanted  to  a  higher  realm  and  sphere, 
while  we  here  below  learn  from  those  she  has 
helped  and  influenced  that  her  works  still 
continue. 


Appendix  173 


III.  IN  MEMORIAM 

By  Miss  Hattie  L.  Bruce,  American  Marathi 
Misson,  Satara 

"In  this  life  of  faith  in  the  natural,  and  dis- 
inclination to  the  supernatural,  we  want 
especially  to  meet  the  whole  world  with  this 
credo^  *  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost.' " 

These  words,  though  written  by  another, 
seem  always  associated  in  my  mind  with  Mrs 
Fuller,  because  she  it  was  from  whom  I  caught 
their  spirit,  years  ago.  "  Do  you  believe  in 
the  Holy  Ghost  ? "  I  never  shall  forget  the 
circumstances  under  which  she  asked  me  this 
question,  after  a  refusal  on  my  part  to  address 
a  large  children's  gathering  at  our  annual 
Sabha.  She,  being  like  a  mother  to  me  in 
things  spiritual,  had  taken  me  very  seriously 
to  task  for  my  refusal.  All  excuses — that  I 
was  not  free  in  Marathi,  that  I  had  had  no 
time  for  preparation,  that  another  could  do  far 
better  than  I — she  simply  brushed  aside  with 
the  words,  "If  you  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 
you  will  speak  to-morrow."  And  my  plead- 
ings to  the  contrary  were  in  vain,  though  with 
hands  clasped,  and  almost  on  my  knees  before 
her,  I  lingered  till  eleven  o'clock  that  night,  in 


174  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

hopes  that  she  would  relent.  She  knew  me  to 
be  in  a  position  where  I  had  no  alternative 
but  to  obey,  and  she  took  advantage  of  it  to 
make  me  venture  out  upon  God.  This  is 
only  one  illustration  of  how  she  pushed  me 
into  deep  water.  I  had  given  her  the  right  to 
do  so,  for,  as  said  above,  she  was  like  a  mother 
to  me.  Besides,  in  early  days,  her  longings 
and  definite  choice  had  been,  like  mine,  for 
the  supernatural,  and  all  through  life  she  had 
proven  the  "  God  of  impossibilities."  As  I 
longed  to  prove  Him,  I  could  not  but  follow 
such  a  venturesome  spirit,  one  who  would  go 
to  all  lengths  with  God.  And  so  she  led  me 
on  and  on.  "  Let  God  be  true  !  "  How  can  I 
ever  thank  her  for  sharing  with  me  the  inspira- 
tion of  her  life ! 

I  was  always  welcome  in  Mrs  Fuller's  home. 
"  Come  whenever  you  will,  and  bring  your 
friends  with  you,  only  give  me  twenty-four 
hours'  notice,"  she  used  to  say,  and  many  a 
time,  both  in  Akola  and  Bombay,  I  have  taken 
her  at  her  word.  Many  are  the  heart  to  heart 
talks  I  have  had  with  her.  I  would  watch  my 
opportunity  to  sit  at  her  feet — all  the  better  if 
it  were  evening,  and  the  lights  turned  low — 
for  then  I  could  ask  her  to  tell  me  what  she 
saw  to  be  wrong  in  my  life.  Was  she  not  my 
spiritual  confidante  ?  In  her  inimitable  way 
she  would  perhaps  begin  :  ''  You  want  me  to 
size  you  up  ?     Well,  I   think  you're  lovely ! " 


Appendix  175 

And  then  she  would  go  on  to  show  me  the 
reverse  !  "  The  truth  in  love  " — it  was  not 
hard  to  hear  it  from  her  lips. 

Once  during  a  season  of  special  meetings 
which  Mrs  Fuller  conducted  at  Mahableshwar, 
she  was  my  guest.  What  happy  times  we  had 
together  in  our  little  grass  chupper\  She  was 
the  only  friend  who  ever  thought  it  worth  while 
to  give  "  Bible-readings  for  one,"  to  me  alone. 
But  I  could  not  have  her  all  to  myself  even 
after  her  day's  work  seemed  done,  for  there  were 
so  many  missionaries  who  made  appointments 
to  meet  and  talk  with  her,  that  she  was 
sometimes  kept  up  at  night.  With  that  de- 
lightful humour  of  hers,  she  remarked  to  me 
one  evening  :  "  I'm  afraid  you'll  be  put  out  by 
what  I've  done  !  "  "  Do  you  think  it's  so  easy 
to  put  me  out?"  I  asked.     "I  mean  put  out 

physically,"  she  answered.    "  Miss wanted 

a  talk  with  me,  and  I  couldn't  arrange  for  it 
in  any  other  way  than  to  offer  her  your  bed. 
You  don't  mind  going  over  to  her  place  to  sleep 
to-night,  do  you  ?  "  So  this  is  how  Mrs  Fuller 
"  put  me  out " — out  of  my  own  house,  out  of 
my  own  bed — and  I  loved  her  the  more  for  it ! 
She  was  made  a  great  blessing  to  the  dear  ones 
at  Mahableshwar  that  season.  One  of  them 
confessed  to  me,  "  She  helps  by  her  life,  by  her 
presence,  more  than  by  anything  she  says." 
But  her  words,  too,  were  spoken  in  the  power 
of  the  Spirit,  and  many  of  us  will  treasure  them 


176  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

as  long  as  we  live.  "  I  am  not  a  teacher,"  she 
said  to  me  once ;  "  God  only  gives  me  sweet 
thoughts." 

I  never  shall  forget  the  call  we  made  together 
upon  a  stranger  who  showed  herself  wholly  out 
of  sympathy  with  us  and  our  work.  Mrs  Fuller 
remarked  afterwards,  "  Didn't  she  snub  me, 
though  ?  I  tell  you,  there's  one  thing  the  devil 
can't  imitate,  and  that  is  the  sweetness  of  Jesus!  " 
With  the  very  sweetness  of  Jesus  she  had  herself 
learned  to  meet  the  rejection,  the  misunder- 
standings and  the  trials  of  her  lot.  "  I  belong 
to  a  kingdom  that  is  yet  to  come,"  she  once 
simply  replied,  when  asked  her  nationality ; 
and  all  her  life  witnessed  to  her  being  a 
pilgrim,  a  stranger  here.  How  she  pleaded,"Thy 
Kingdom  come  !  "  How  abundant  was  she  in 
labours  for  the  salvation  of  the  people,  "  Marathi 
salvation,"  as  she  used  to  call  it,  adding  some- 
times, "  I  do  not  want  long  life  unless  God 
shows  me  His  salvation  !"  (Ps.  xci.  16).  More 
than  all,  how  her  heart  was  set  upon  Jesus' 
coming  again  !  "  Till  he  come  I  "  Dear  heart, 
so  weary  with  love  and  longing,  it  will  not  be 
hard  to  wait  now. 

"  For  so  He  giveth  His  beloved  sleep." 


Appendix  177 


By   Mrs   F.   Percy   Horne,  of  the  Bombay 
Guardian 

The  first  time  I  saw  Mrs  Fuller  was  at  an 
evening  service  in  the  spacious  Grant  Road 
Methodist  Church  in  Bombay.  She  had  just 
returned  from  America  with  a  large  party  of 
missionaries  for  the  then  new  Alliance  Mission, 
and  had  been  asked  to  give  the  address  in 
place  of  a  sermon.  Her  words  came  with 
power,  and  the  subject  of  the  address  has 
never  passed  from  my  memory.  She  spoke 
of  the  power  of  Christ  in  the  heart  in 
contrast  to  the  doctrine  of  "  perfection,"  and 
she  told  how  at  one  time  she  believed  she 
had  received  the  blessing  of  "  a  clean  heart," 
but  she  looked  at  her  heart  and  examined  her 
feelings  so  closely  that  her  eyes  were  turned 
away  from  Jesus.  But  later  He  had  taught 
her  the  rest  of  allowing  Him  to  dwell  in  her 
heart.  Now  the  difficulty  of  loving  those 
whom  she  naturally  did  not  love  was  gone, 
now  the  difficulty  of  speaking  was  over,  and 
now  the  irksomeness  of  work  was  past. 
Jesus  loved  through  her  ;  He  spoke  through 
her ;  and  He  worked  through  her ;  and  she 
gladly  acquiesced.  Later,  when  I  knew  her 
more  intimately,  I  found  that  her  words  were 
true.  Her  life  was  an  outward  testimony  of 
the  indwelling  Christ. 

When  the  entire  work  of  this  office  devolved 

M 


178  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

on  us  we  had  no  kinder  friend.  Nearly  every 
morning  when  she  was  in  Bombay  she  would 
come  in  for  a  few  minutes'  "  gup,"  and  some- 
times we  shared  the  "  sweet  message "  the 
Lord  had  given  her  that  morning.  And  often 
she  would  write  it  down  for  a  larger  circle,  for 
the  pages  of  the  Guardian.  She  often  made 
me  think  of  the  words,  "  There  is  that 
scattereth  and  yet  increaseth "  —  she  gave 
lavishly  of  her  talent,  her  love,  and  her  sunny 
kindness,  and  all  these  gifts  were  abundantly 
replenished. 

Ours  was  only  one  of  the  households  she 
visited  in  Bombay,  but  we  felt  she  belonged 
to  us.  What  a  number  of  little  joys  she 
brought !  Sometimes  it  was  a  charming  letter 
from  her  daughter  in  America  ;  another  time 
a  pretty  photograph ;  once  a  plate  of  some 
strawberries  which  had  been  brought  for  her 
from  the  hills.  The  last  gift  was  some  lovely 
pinks  which  a  friend  had  brought  for  her  from 
Panchgani.  Mr  Fuller  wrote  a  day  or  two 
before  the  call  came  :  "  She  picked  out  a  part 
of  them  with  her  own  hand,  and  asked  that 
they  be  sent  to  you  with  her  love.  She  is  no 
better,  humanly  speaking,  but  twelve  weeks 
ago  yesterday  she  seemed  nearer  death  than 
now,  and  the  doctor  said  she  would  not  live 
till  morning.  She  has  been  all  these  weeks 
like  the  burning  bush — burning  but  not  con- 
sumed." 


Appendix  179 

When  the  call  came  and  the  news  spread 
over  the  city,  a  large  concourse  of  people 
gathered  at  Berachah  Home.  It  was  the 
saddest  funeral  I  ever  attended  ;  missionaries 
from  all  the  mission  houses  were  present,  and 
Indian  Christians  of  all  ranks  crowded  the 
entry  and  the  passages.  Our  workmen  begged 
an  hour's  leave  to  take  farewell  of  the  body  of 
one  who  had  endeared  herself  to  them  by  in- 
numerable acts  of  kindness.  I  remember  how 
after  the  brief  service,  and  when  the  triumphant 
singing  was  stilled,  a  hush  fell  upon  the  assembly 
that  was  almost  painful.  The  stillness  was  so 
tense  that  it  was  a  relief  when  a  child's  cry 
broke  it,  and  then  the  tears  of  the  women 
flowed  freely  as  they  filed  round  the  casket. 
The  grief  of  the  native  Christians  was  intense  ; 
she  made  herself  one  with  them ;  I  never 
knew  a  missionary  to  understand  them  better. 
Mrs  Fuller  could  make  an  Indian  do  any- 
thing she  wished.  I  remember  how  our  mali 
(gardener)  would  do  his  utmost  to  obtain 
cuttings  of  the  plants  she  desired  for  her 
garden ;  I  remember,  too,  that  we  hardly 
ever  went  into  her  house  without  meeting 
some  Indian  Christian  who  had  gone  to  her 
for  advice  or  help.  She  was  no  respecter  of 
persons,  unless  it  were  that  she  sought  out  and 
devoted  herself  to  those  who  most  needed  her 
help. 


i8o  A  Life  for  God  in  India 


IV.  COVENANT  PROMISES  TO 
PARENTS 

A  BIBLE  READING  BY  MRS  FULLER 

How  many  parents  there  are  whose  one  great 
burden  is  their  children.  Many  of  them  are 
selfish  in  this,  because  it  is  their  children,  and 
it  would  be  so  nice  to  have  them  saved,  and 
be  good,  and  go  to  church  with  them,  and 
never  have  any  bad  habits.  They  are  inter- 
ested in  no  one  else's  children.  But  there  are 
parents  whose  motives  are  not  selfish,  who 
pray  and  shed  many  tears,  but  always  seem  at 
sea  for  any  definite  promise  to  lay  hold  of  for 
their  children.  I  have  had  many  parents  beg 
me  to  pray  for  their  children,  and  when  I  have 
asked  them,  "  Do  you  believe  and  plead  the 
covenant  promises  for  them  ? "  I  have  found 
many  who  did  not  know  what  they  were. 

God  says,  "  Lo,  children  are  an  heritage  of 
the  Lord:  and  the  fruit  of  the  womb  is  His 
reward "  (Ps.  cxxvii.  3).  If  this  is  true,  He 
has  made  provision  for  them. 

God  made 

A  WONDERFUL  COVENANT 

with  Abraham.  In  him  it  was  wonderfully 
fulfilled  :   "  I  will  ...  be  a  God  unto  thee,  and 


Appendix  i8i 

to  thy  seed  after  thee  "  (Gen.  xvii.  7).  The  one 
brief  condition  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  great 
promise  was  indicated  by  God  when  He  said 
of  Abraham  :  "  I  know  him,  that  he  will  com- 
mand his  children  and  his  household  after  him, 
and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do 
justice  and  judgment,  that  the  Lord  may  bring 
upon  Abraham  that  which  He  hath  spoken  of 
him  "  (Gen.  xviii.  19). 

To  ratify  this,  God  gave  to  Abraham  the 
usual  token  of  a  covenant  between  two  parties. 
The  word  covenant  means  "  a  cutting."  The 
animal  for  sacrifice  was  cut  in  two,  and  the 
covenanting  party  passed  between  the  pieces. 
In  Gen.  xv.  we  read  of  how  God,  the  covenant- 
ing party,  sealed  His  pledge  to  Abraham.  A 
lamp  of  fire  passed  between  the  pieces,  and 
thus  God  identified  Himself  with  Abraham  and 
his  seed.  "  For  the  first  time  since  man  left 
the  gate  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  there  appeared 
the  symbol  of  the  glory  of  God  which  was 
afterward  to  shine  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and 
the  Shekinah  gleam."  He  could  swear  by  no 
greater,  so  he  swore  by  Himself,  "  I  will  .  .  . 
be  a  God  to  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee." 

"  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  counted 
unto  him  for  righteousness "  (Gen.  xv.  6 ; 
Rom.  iv.  3). 

But  it  was  never  God's  thought  that  the 
Hebrews  should  live  for  themselves  or  to  them- 
selves. 


1 82  A  Life  for  God  in  India 


HE  EXPANDS  HIS  THOUGHT 

"  In  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  And  it  is  His  thought  for  us  still. 
"  I  will  bless  thee  .  .  .  and  thou  shalt  be  a 
blessing  "  (Gen.  xii.  2). 

And  now,  dear  fathers  and  mothers,  "  If  ye 
be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed  and 

HEIRS  ACCORDING  TO  THE  PROMISE" 

(Gal.  iii.  29).  God  will  be  a  "  God  unto  thee 
and  to  thv  seed  after  thee."  We  believe  this 
covenant  includes  us  all.  "  God  pledges  Him- 
self to  be  the  God  of  our  seed,  but  it  is  for  us 
to  claim  the  fulfilment  of  His  pledge.  Not  in 
heart-rending  cries,  but  in  quiet  determined 
faith,  let  us  ask  Him  to  do  as  He  said."  Let 
us  "  also  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  our 
father  Abraham,  which  he  had"  (Rom.  iv.  12). 

Let  us  turn  to  the  first  great  covenant 
promise  which  is  the  key-note  to  all  the  rest 
"  And  I  will  establish  My  covenant  between 
Me  and  thee  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  to  be 
a  God  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee" 
(Gen.  xvii.  7).  Over  and  over  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  this  thought  repeated  in  different 
dress. 

Deut.  xii.  28.  "Observe  and  hear  all  these 
words  which  I  command  thee,  that  it  may  go 


Appendix  183 

well  with  thee,  and  with  thy  children  after  thee 
for  ever." 

Deut.  xi.  18-21.  "  Lay  up  these  My  words 
in  your  heart  .  .  .  and  ye  shall  teach  them 
your  children  .  .  .  that  your  days  may  be 
multiplied  and  the  days  of  your  children  .  .  . 
as  the  days  of  heaven  upon  the  earth."  How 
little  long  life  for  ourselves  or  for  our  children 
is  to  be  desired  unless  our  and  their  days 
can  be  "  as  the  days  of  heaven  upon  the  earth." 

Ps.  ciii.  17,  18.  David  reiterates  the 
thought.  "  But  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  is 
from  everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that 
fear  Him,  and  His  righteousness  unto  children's 
children  ;  to  such  as  keep  His  covenant,  and 
to  those  that  remember  His  commandments  to 
do  them." 

Isa.  xliv.  3.  Isaiah  gives  some  most  precious 
promises  :  "  I  will  pour  My  Spirit  upon  thy 
seed,  and  My  blessing  upon  thine  offspring." 
Let  us  couple  that  with  Peter's  declaration  on 
the  Day  of  Pentecost :  "  And 

THE   PROMISE   IS    UNTO  YOU,    AND   TO 
YOUR   CHILDREN" 

(Acts  ii.  39),  and  press  boldly  to  the  throne 
of  grace  that  our  children  as  well  as  our- 
selves shall  possess  this  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

Isa.  liv.  1 3.     "  And  all  thy  children  shall  be 


184  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

taught  of  the  Lord  ;  and  great  shall  be  the 
peace  of  thy  children."  How  often  the  Spirit 
has  applied  this  promise  to  the  heart  of  a 
praying  parent. 

Isa.  lix.  21  comes  to  us  with  all  the 
solemnity  of  an  oath  or  covenant  :  ''My  Spirit 
that  is  upon  thee,  and  My  words  which  I  have 
put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy 
mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor 
out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the 
Lord,  from  henceforth  and  for  ever."  Of  the 
great  grandmother  of^  Fidelia  Fiske  it  is 
written  :  "  Her  last  days  were  days  of  almost 
continued  praying :  and  the  burden  of  her 
prayer  then  was,  as  it  had  previously  been,  that 
her  posterity  might  be  a  godly  seed  even  to 
the  latest  generation."  Of  her,  Miss  Fiske 
writes  to  a  cousin  :  "  Have  you  heard  your 
father  tell  how  she  used  to  pray  for  her 
descendants  to  the  end  of  time?"  In  1857 
three  hundred  of  the  descendants  of  this  godly 
woman  were  members  of  Christ's  Church. 
Miss  Fiske  adds  in  speaking  of  it :  "I  often 
think  I  may  be  receiving  blessing  in  answer  to 
her  prayers  :  for  I  know  that  she  prayed  for 
her  children's  children  for  all  coming  time." 
This  was  a  grasping  of  the  promise,  for  "  thy 
seed's  seed."  On  the  opening  page  of  Miss 
Fiske's  life  it  says  :  "  Fidelia  Fiske  was  a 
child  of  the  covenant,"     Precious  record. 

Mr    Hastings  tells  of  a  father  and  mother 


Appendix  1 85 

who  set  apart  an  hour  every  Sabbath  morning 
to  pray  for  their  children.  They  were  all  con- 
verted, and  as  they  grew  up  and  had  families, 
they  followed  their  parents'  custom  of  prayer : 
so  that  at  the  time  of  writing  the  sketch,  there 
had  been  four  generations  of  this  godly  pair, 
and  not  one  out  of  the  four  generations  had 
ever  been  known  to  die  unsaved.  A  number 
were  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  missionaries 
and  otherwise  useful  men  and  women. 

Jer.  xxxii.  39  says  :  "  I  will  give  them  one 
heart,  and  one  way,  that  they  may  fear  Me  for 
ever,  for  the  good  of  them,  and  of  their  children 
after  them." 

Deuteronomy  xxx.  6  brings  a  precious  pro- 
mise to  claim  :  "  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will 
circumcise  thine  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed, 
to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live." 
Dear  parent,  as  you  have  realised  that  God 
was  circumcising  your  heart  to  love  Him  more 
fully,  has  it  never  given  you  power  to  get  down 
on  your  knees  and  claim  the  same  for  your 
children  ?  To  spiritually  apprehend  this  gives 
a  parent  great  boldness  to  approach  God  for 
his  family. 

FOR    CHRISTIANS    AS    WELL    AS    FOR   JEWS. 

But  some  may  say :  "  Oh,  these  promises 
are    good   enough,  but    they    are    all    for  the 


1 86  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

Jews."  It  seems  to  us  that  God  could  give 
no  greater  denial  to  this  than  when  Peter  so 
boldly  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  new  dispensation,  gave  God's 
thought  for  the  family  anew,  as  he  said : 
"  For  the  promise  is  unto  you,  and  to  your 
children'''  (Acts  ii.  39).  Can  it  not  be  said 
of  many  :  "  Ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask 
not  "  ?  The  Holy  Ghost  bade  Peter  also  tell 
Cornelius  words  whereby  he  and  all  his  house 
should  be  saved  (Acts  xi.  1 4).  And  when  the 
Philippian  jailor  cried  out,  "  What  must  I  do 
to  be  saved  ?  "  Paul  replied  :  "  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved, 
and  thy  housed 

I  fear  that  we  missionaries  have  not  always 
been  true  to  the  people  of  India  in  giving 
them  the  Gospel.  We  have  over  and  over 
exhorted  them  to  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved "  ;  and  then 
have  stopped  there.  But  in  a  land  where  a 
man  has  to  cut  every  sacred  tie  to  become  a 
follower  of  Jesus,  and  literally  forsake  parents, 
wife,  and  often  children,  we  should  go  on  to 
the  end  of  the  verse  and  add — ''and  thy  housed 
Family  ties  make  one  of  the  greatest  hind- 
rances convicted  souls  in  India  have  in  confess- 
ing Jesus.  We  believe  if  this  promise  could  be 
flashed  into  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  as 
the  living  word  of  God,  that  the  life  it  would 
bring    would    give    power    to    step    out,  and 


Appendix  187 

courage  to  go  back  to  their  friends  and  tell 
them  what  God  has  done  for  them,  and  it 
would  give  them  faith  to  labour  to  bring  their 
friends  to  Christ  amidst  persecution  and 
perhaps  even  to  martyrdom.  "  And  thy 
house." 

Some  may  say :  "  I  know  so  many  good 
people  of  whom  this  is  not  true  of  their 
children."  ''  Let  God  be  true,  but  every  man 
a  liar  "  (Rom.  iii.  4).  Perhaps  they  never  be- 
lieved these  promises.  The  Bible  is  full  of 
promises  of  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  but  how 
many  good  people  never  receive  it.  And 
when  one  does  receive  it,  he  sees  he  might  have 
been  filled  long  before  if  he  had  but  com- 
prehended and  laid  hold  of  God's  promises. 
These  promises  are  given  to  parents  of  a 
certain  character,  and  as  parents  believe, 
their  power  to  command  their  house  (Gen 
xviii.  19),  and  a  faithfulness  to  teach  (Deut. 
xi.  1 8)  their  children,  as  they  could  not  other- 
wise have  done,  is  given. 

Others  may  say,  "  My  children  have  long 
got  the  start  of  me,"  or  "  I  did  not  know  God 
or  care  when  I  was  with  my  children,  and  they 
have  long  gone  from  under  my  influence." 
We  know  nothing  to  do  but  to  humble  our- 
selves to  God,  and  confess  it  all :  and  confess 
it  to  the  children,  and  then  bring  the  promises 
to  God. 

Another   may  say  :    "  But   my  husband,  or 


1 88  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

my  wife  is  not  a  Christian,  what  can  I  do?" 
God  seems  not  to  have  forgotten  such  cases. 
Turn  to  i  Cor.  vii.  14.  The  case  is  more 
easily  understood  in  heathen  lands  where  there 
are  different  religions.  Mr  Coles  says,  "  '  holy ' 
and  '  unclean '  must  be  certainly  taken  in  the 
putative  sense,  i.e.  the  children  are  nominally 
Christian,  not  pagan :  the  family  becomes  a 
Christian  household  by  the  Christianity  of 
either  parent.  Whatever  prerogatives  belong 
to  the  Christian  family  accrue  to  this  by  virtue 
of  the  faith  of  either  parent.  I  see  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  Paul  had  distinctly  in  mind  the 
covenant  relation  which  Christian  households 
sustain  to  God  in  reference  to  the  consecration 
of  their  offspring  under  the  great  promise  :  '  I 
will  be  a  God  to  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after 
thee.'  Paul  interprets  this  covenant  to  apply 
to  '  thee  '  in  cases  where  only  one  of  the  parents 
is  a  believer.  Most  tenderly  and  mercifully 
God  provides  that  the  personal  faith  of  either 
parent  shall  be  honoured  as  sufificient  ground 
to  claim  all  the  promises  of  this  most  precious 
covenant." 

The  Spirit,  too,  in  a  time  of  prayer  may 
apply  a  promise  to  our  hearts  of  a  verse  we 
had  never  thought  of  in  this  connection.  A 
widow  was  once  greatly  exercised  in  prayer 
for  her  children.  The  Spirit  applied  with 
power  to  her  the  words  :  "  Leave  thy  fatherless 
children  with   Me,   and    I   will  preserve  them 


Appendix  189 

alive."     She  rested   her  heart,  and  they  were 
all  converted. 

Turn  to  Heb.  xi.  "  By  faith  Noah  prepared 
an  ark  to  the  saving  of  his  house!'  Andrew- 
Murray  says  :  "  The  faith  of  Noah,  made  per- 
fect by  works,  saved  his  family  ;  and  with  his 
family  he  saved  the  race.  The  old  story  of  *  I 
will  bless  thee  and  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing.' " 
He  further  adds  :  ^''  By  faith  Isaac  blessed  facob 
and  Esau.  His  blessing  on  his  children  was 
the  manifestation  of  his  faith  in  the  promise  of 
God  to  his  father  and  himself,  and  the  trans- 
mission of  the  blessiug  to  them.  By  faith 
Jacob  blessed  each  of  the  sons  of  Joseph.  .  .  . 
Faith  was  the  secret  inspiration  of  their  treat- 
ment of  their  children.  Faith  never  confines 
itself  to  the  person  of  the  believer  himself,  but 
takes  in  his  home  and  children.  And  how  is 
it  that  Christian  parents  can  secure  this  longed- 
for-blessing  for  their  children  ?  There  is  but 
one  answer.  By  faith.  Our  life  must  be  all 
faith.  The  blessing  and  the  power  are  His  : 
and  it  is  as  we  have  more  of  God  in  our  life 
and  our  home,  there  will  be  the  hidden  power 
resting  on  our  children.  Faith  does  not  only 
mean  a  knowing  that  there  is  a  covenant  pro- 
mise for  our  children,  and  a  pleading  of  it  in 
prayer.  This  is  an  exercise  of  faith  and  has 
great  value.  But  the  chief  thing  is  the  life ; 
faith  is  the  making  way  for  God  and  giving 
Him  place   in   our  life.     And  when  at  times 


190  A  Life  for  God  in  India 

the  vision  tarries,  and  the  promise  appears  to 
fail,  faith  understands  this  as  only  a  call  to 
trust  God  more  completely  and  more  confi- 
dently. As  we  hold  fast  our  confidence  firm 
to  the  end,  as  in  patience  and  long-suffering 
we  are  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God,  we 
shall  know  for  certain  that  we  shall  inherit  this 
promise  too  :  *  I  will  ...  be  a  God  to  thee 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee.' " 

But  in  closing  remember,  dear  friends,  that 
God  never  meant  that  just  your  family  should 
be  saved.  God's  word  was  to  Abraham  and 
it  is  to  you  :  ^^  And  in  thee  shall  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  be  blessed!^  Let  not  your  thought 
and  prayer  be  :  "  My  seed  and  my  seed's  seed"; 
but  teach  your  children  and  give  them  to  God 
that  He  may  take  them  and  make  them  a 
blessing  to  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

May  our  children  indeed  be  children  of  the 
covenant  in  its  widest  fulfilment.     Amen. 


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"  Will  be  read  with  painful  interest,  and  will  help  her  readers  to 
realise  a  state  of  existence  which  to  many  of  them  might  seem  in- 
tolerable and  incredible.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  general 
accuracy  of  her  information  or  the  fairness  of  her  descriptions.  .  ,  . 
To  many  it  will  be  a  shocking  revelation,  though  it  touches  deli- 
cately enough  on  the  worst  features  of  the  case.  It  may  be  read 
without  any  misgiving  as  to  its  substantial  veracity." — Scotsman. 

"  She  has  neither  exaggerated  nor  kept  back  what  can  be  said 
on  the  most  important  things  connected  with  Indian  women's  con- 
ditions. All  who  are  interested  in  and  want  to  do  something  for 
the  salvation  of  women  in  India  will  do  well  to  read  her  book.  .  .  . 
Mrs.  Fuller's  careful  and  well-balanced  representation  of  her  subject 
well  deserves  attention." — North  British  Daily  Mail. 

"  The  whole  subject  of  domestic  life  in  India,  particularly  among 
the  Hindus,  is  thoroughly  discussed,  and  the  relation  of  the  Hindu 
woman  to  the  domestic  circle  and  to  the  Indian  Government  is  set 
forth  in  a  way  that  is  full  of  pathos  and  interest." — Bookseller, 


LONDON  AND  EDINBURGH 

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A    MARVELLOUS   RECORD 
OF  SUCCESSFUL 
EVANGELISTIC  WORK 

Down   in  Water 
Street 

A  Story  of  Sixteen  Years'  Life  and  Work 
in  Water  Street  Mission 

BY 

SAMUEL  H.  HADLEY 

EXTRACT  FROM 

INTRODUCTION  TO  BRITISH  READERS 

By  Rev.  F.  B.  MEYER 

"  Here  is  a  book  after  my  heart !  It  has  stirred  me 
as  much  as  "  Westward  Ho ! "  used  to  do  years  ago, 
when  one  longed  to  be  one  of  those  who  discovered  the 
New  World.  But  here  is  a  new  world  close  to  oui  doors ; 
and  I  shall  be  surprised  if  this  book  does  not  set  twenty 
devoted  servants  doing  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  the 
same  kind  of  work  as  my  dear  friend,  S.  H.  Hadley,  is 
doing  in  Water  Street,  New  York.  .  .  ." 

Cloth,  fully  illustrated.     Price  3s.  6d.  net. 
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^^^aJ^aJ^aiU^ 

a«^v.. 

i 

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